Minecraft Forums

Quote from PsiAlpha»

Guys, is 2.5 Billion Dollars, lets put it in perspective, is a 25 with 8 zeros on the back in pure US dollar cash, . You think a long lasting world tier company like Microsoft is gonna up a project with this much investment?

Yes. There is one reason and one reason only, why MS bought Mojang: to boost their mobile platforms. They don't really give a rat's ass about the game, or its community as far as anything else goes. Given their measly marketshare, 2.5B is not really an exorbitant sum of money (they paid almost 5x as much for Skype and still have enormous cash reserves FFS) for them to try and significanly boost their position. They did not buy it because Minecraft is a great game, they bought it because there are tens of millions of us and they would like for us to be using their phones and tablets to play it on. And if that doesn't work out (and it won't) they will, at the very least try to recoup the investment thru the game itself. This is where the up comes in because eventually, the accountants and shareholders will take the matters over.

As for my own views on the matter, I'm sad. I bought into the culture of Minecraft as much as the game itself. I was introduced to it during early Alpha stages and decided to be part of this curious new community. It was as much the concept of the game itself as was apparent Notch's attitude that made me chip in my $20 back then, and get few other copies for some family members along the way. I'm glad that millions of like-minded people made this project not only possible, but deservedly made the virtuous developer quite rich, maybe even beyond what he could have imagined.

What I'm not glad about, is that Notch really come out simply as Mr. Markus Persson, a hypocritical sack of poo like the rest of us. I can't say that in the end, I'm surprised - hell it's 2.5 billion dollars, for that kind of money I'd sell my soul too, let's be honest. But I wasn't the one pledging distaste for the corporate agenda all this time; I wasn't the one was asking people to invest into a new kind of game, a game based on principles and gamers not accountants; I was the one (of millions more) who bought into his crap. If Minecraft and its success has really become too much for him (I do believe that part) then why not open-source it, divvy up the cash you and the company have made so far and move on. That was kinda the original plan, wasn't it. Maybe it was no longer as simple as that, what do I know, it's easy to moan and feel butthurt without clear understanding of the full picture. But he gets a nice chunk of change to "preserve his sanity", we get Microsoft logo. So, congratulations on the sale, enjoy your [even bigger now] lump of well deserved cash. Hopefully, it will free you completely to do what you love, and nothing but that and you can actually afford to have principles.

I just read the Mojang's note of the sale and frankly that entire "reassuring" drivel should be reduced to a single Q&A: "What will happen to Minecraft? Hopefully not much if anything but who knows. We will do whatever is best for the company because it is now required of us. You've all served your purpose in making us incredibly successful. We thank you for it but now it's time to be practical kids, and real world is about money. Take it or leave it, we don't really care and most of us will be gone soon enough anyway."

As for the game itself, I'll enjoy it for quite some time still I suspect. I'm not gonna quit just because Mojang and its founder turned out to be yet another bunch corporate pricks after all. But no, MS will not get a single dime off me. Not in protest, rather I just don't care anymore. Speculation of what will MS do or not do to the game isn't relevant to me. I'll play what I have, and when it dies, it dies.