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Microsoft takes over Mojang/Minecraft

Started by katoon123, Sep 15, 2014, 01:31 PM

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UntrustedAlly

Hmm, Microsoft? Let's hope they don't bring in their famous subscription based services. *cough* Xbox Live *cough*
yeehaw

zomcri

So...

  • No Playstation Minecraft
  • Probs Less updates for phones and stuff
  • Minecraft XBox will change completely

I'd prefer Mojang.

Towelie

Quote from: zomcry on Sep 15, 2014, 06:38 PM
So...

  • No Playstation Minecraft
  • Probs Less updates for phones and stuff
  • Minecraft XBox will change completely

I'd prefer Mojang.
They already said they aren't cancelling any versions, including sony/android/iphone versions


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emm10

I love how the quote made it sound like notch was going to "keep doing cool stuff." Notch is a bigger one-hit-wonder than Sir MixALot.

The Lovin Spoon

"minecraft has become too big for me, i dont want the attention"

yet he stood on stage on Minecon 2011-2013, for thousands of people

The Lovin Spoon

Quote from: TheHuntingHunter on Sep 15, 2014, 08:46 PM
Quote from: brE on Sep 15, 2014, 08:44 PM
"minecraft has become too big for me, i dont want the attention"

yet he stood on stage on Minecon 2011-2013, for thousands of people

doesn't necessarily mean he enjoyed it? Though I would personally enjoy having millions of fans and creating a game that changed sandbox industry.
if he didnt enjoy it in 2011, then why the fuck would he do it the next 2 years too?
noone really forced him to

maxwolf28

Quote from: djkirsh on Sep 15, 2014, 04:19 PM
Read this as "Minecraft bought Microsoft"


Also, I think this may be good for Minecraft. Minecraft isn't too well known. It wasn't until they started making phone apps that people started discovering Minecraft. Maybe Microsoft is going to push it further and make it more well known.
i read it as Minecraft bought Minecraft.

lioneatszebra

Quote from: itsConnor_ on Sep 15, 2014, 04:28 PM
:o
Quote from: djkirsh on Sep 15, 2014, 04:19 PM
Minecraft isn't too well known.
Really?  :o

I say this because many people I know and many of people my brother's age don't know what Minecraft is OR they don't know that it was a computer game before it was a mobile app.
brb, living offline

CocoaMuffins15

Well... whatever happens, may SFT live long and prosper!

Dday694

Hope that they keep the community the way it is and not try to suck more money out of it.

What i wonder now is whats gonna happen with bukkit, is it now owned by microsoft or is it still owned by mojang? And whatever the case is, will it change anything with the lawsuit?

Godswarpawn

Here's how I see things. (Because, you know, how I see things are sooooooo important.) What's going to happen, is nothing. There is going to be no disadvantages, no advantages, it's going to be Minecraft. It's just a different owner of the game itself. This doesn't mean that they are going to bring it down into the ground, destroying every single fan's hopes and dreams. It's not going to do anything. Life will go as normal, in-game or out of game. Heck, maybe even Minecraft Realms will get deleted, and the EULA lifted, but that is probably hoping for too much. Sometimes, change is a good thing, and we have to embrace it. Fighting back, unless if it's SOPA or something ridiculous, ridiculous enough to cause an uproar to destroy the community of the internet, is not a good idea.

And even then, it's just a game.

Games are infinite. If it really goes downhill, there could just be a beacon of light that shines out of the darkness, something as good as Minecraft. Highly unlikely, yes, but there is still a chance. SFT isn't just another server group, bunched up with the loose cords in somebody's home. It's a community, a way of life, a way to relief your stress and embellish what you love. If we let that flame die out, we will never be the same again. SFT is never going down, and I hope that I'm not lying to myself when I say that.

We will continue on.
 

tylerinator

WAIT!!! Im super happy about this but whats gonna happen with minecon? I was gonna go in 2016

Diggs_Blocks

Quote from: Dday694 on Sep 15, 2014, 10:32 PM
Hope that they keep the community the way it is and not try to suck more money out of it.

What i wonder now is whats gonna happen with bukkit, is it now owned by microsoft or is it still owned by mojang? And whatever the case is, will it change anything with the lawsuit?
I think if Microsoft bought Mojang, they would own everything Mojang owned. Maybe they will, maybe they won't and overlook Bukkit. Whatever happens, I hope for they best :D

natehs2000


Best_Shooterman

Ayy lmao, make a CS:GO server again pls.

CanisLycaonX

I welcome the change as we may see minecraft move away from Java and it's inherent limitations and flaws. With Microsoft acquiring mojang  minecraft has the potential to grow into a true monster greater than it currently is. With proper mod API support as I can say one thing Microsoft espouses in their game development is universal uniformity. So we may see new mod packs/mods released that will work even better with core giving us greater stability. As a developer I look forward to the chance to work on minecraft using the xna architecture.

Limax007

   Depreciating a 2,5 bil. investment in the condition that the title already had huge sales and how many licenses were purchased (not a huge future in selling more of those) they will have to put behind this a really strong financial policy in order to turn this around into profit.
  However you look at it we will have to pay at a point otherwise the purchase makes no sense.

  Maybe they will make it a "license fee" business style and will kill this new EULA and only charge servers for the donations they get.

emm10

Quote from: Limax007 on Sep 16, 2014, 08:58 AM
   Depreciating a 2,5 bil. investment in the condition that the title already had huge sales and how many licenses were purchased (not a huge future in selling more of those) they will have to put behind this a really strong financial policy in order to turn this around into profit.
  However you look at it we will have to pay at a point otherwise the purchase makes no sense.

  Maybe they will make it a "license fee" business style and will kill this new EULA and only charge servers for the donations they get.
I didn't think about this. For the most part, everyone who was bought minecraft will have bought it, so what's the point in buying Mojang? Microsoft has to have some way of making a profit off of the 2.5 billion $ they spent on it. I'm assuming how they hope on doing that, is to use mojang to fix some of the MAJOR bugs and design flaws on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. I doubt they're going to spend a lot of time on the computer version, probably a little less then already.

BagelsMan

OK - before anyone says anything, I wrote this because I wanted to show you guys that although other than SFTbteam I really haven't been on any of the SFT servers, I am still a part of the community, I still check the forums DAILY, and I still think you guys are awesome  :) :) :)

This took about an hour to research and type (I type 80 wpm so its not that hard I guess) - but the reason I made such a long response is to explain Literally every detail that I have scraped up about this situation and tell you guys about it.

Basically this is like a whole other response to katoon's thread, but as a comment, lel sry. But hey, SFTrecord for longest comment guys? do I win?  ;)
________________________________________________________________________________________
OK; so first off, we have to talk about that potential $2 billion price tag. It sounds crazy, doesn't it? Sure Minecraft is a huge hit, but... two billion dollars?!?

The thing is, Minecraft is more than a huge hit. It's the biggest cultural phenomenon the $93 billion video game industry has spawned since Mario. More than 54 million copies of Minecraft have been sold across all platforms, making it the third best-selling game of all-time, behind only Wii Sports and Tetris. Who wouldn't want to own that?

What if Microsoft Buys Minecraft?

What's more, similar to the Angry Birds boom Rovio enjoyed in 2010, Minecraft seems poised to explode beyond the confines of the video game business. A Minecraft movie is in the works at Warner Bros. Scholastic sells a variety of official Minecraft how-to books. Minecraft LEGO sets continue to be best-sellers. Could we be too far away from a hit Minecraft TV show, or a Minecraft amusement park?

Mojang made $128 million in profit last year, from $360 million in revenue. So the game is already a money-maker. The $2 billion price tag is around $37 per user. This is relatively standard for large acquisitions in the tech space. Facebook paid $42 per user when it acquired WhatsApp in February, for example. If Minecraft can expand beyond gaming, and Microsoft can take gentle steps to make more money directly from players, suddenly a $2 billion price tag begins to make more sense.

Piling on to all of this is Minecraft's appeal with the younger set. Xbox has had more success reaching kids and families than it often gets credit for - Kinect Adventures sold 24 million copies on Xbox 360 as a Kinect pack-in experience. But there's no denying that owning Minecraft would be a gigantic coup for Microsoft's ability to reach younger game-playing children.

Will Microsoft Ruin My Minecraft Experience?
The short answer? Probably not. The longer answer is a little more complicated and nuanced, as is usually the case.

While it's certainly true that plenty of acquisitions bigger than this have been botched, generally you can assume that any company that spends billions of dollars understands what they're buying, and what makes it so valuable.

Minecraft became a global phenomenon in large part thanks to a passionate group of grassroots advocates. The game spread by word-of-mouth, slowly and steadily piling on sales as gamers discovered it on message boards and Youtube. These huge Youtube channels, which are an important driver of Minecraft's enduring popularity, are the exact audience most likely to be extremely skeptical and wary of a Microsoft-owned Mojang. And this is a fact that Microsoft almost assuredly understands.

Imagine the acquisition goes through and suddenly players have the option to spend $1.99 to unlock a starter pack of Coal, Wood and Torches. Microsoft would see Minecraft's value dropping, thanks to a torrent of bad press from some of their most vocal and influential fans. The very tactics intended to increase Minecraft revenues would in fact harm the game.

In other words, it is absolutely in Microsoft's best interest to preserve Minecraft's indie appeal and spirit, in order to ensure the long-term growth of Minecraft as a brand.

But, (and it's a big but), you can be sure that Microsoft will be far more motivated to aggressive in monetizing Minecraft fandom than Mojang has been up to now. It sometimes felt that Minecraft turned into a money-making machine for Mojang in spite of the company's behavior - not because of it.

The big question is how Microsoft's desire to make this money back will manifest itself. The aforementioned in-game microtransactions? Minecraft 2 as an Xbox One exclusive? Growing Mojang into a truly independent sub-brand for sourcing and publishing awesome indie games? More aggressive licensing? There are lots of possibilities. Some sinister, but many more downright exciting.

The Best-Case Scenario
If this buy-out goes through, the best-case scenario involves three major pieces falling into place:

1) Microsoft clearly understanding the dynamics for Minecraft's success as outlined above, and not tampering with them.

2) Microsoft finding a way to keep Notch happy and contributing in a corporate environment.

3) Microsoft developing a reasonable plan to capture a portion of the revenue generated by the dozens of business that orbit around Minecraft's success, without ruining those business's ability to grow and thrive.

In this scenario, Microsoft grows Minecraft by continuing to keep the game as broad and accessible as possible. Minecraft continues to receive consistent updates on all platforms. Thanks to long-term thinking,  Minecraft isn't pulled from the PS3 and PS4. Instead, Microsoft understands that they need the continued support of Minecraft's existing fan base, and that more Minecraft players represents more long term opportunity.

Instead, Microsoft ups Minecraft-related revenue through a smart but expansive growth of Minecraft licensing. Kids toys. TV Shows. Partnerships with massive media companies like Disney. Essentially growing Minecraft into a Marvel or Star Wars-esque mega-brand.

Mojang itself could be split into three teams. One continues to have creative ownership over the future direction of Minecraft. Team 2, perhaps lead by Notch himself, would have freedom to work on experimental game ideas - essentially a Microsoft-funded skunkworks laboratory of small and wild game ideas. Team 3 would be an indie publishing group. Give Mojang the money and means to find and fund indie game projects, free from corporate bureaucracy and red tape.

Finally, and this is perhaps most challenging of all, Microsoft will need to come up with a reasonable way to engage and work with the dozens of companies that make millions of dollars off of Minecraft without any of that money actually flowing back to the game makers. Companies like TheHive, HyPixel, and Mineplex along with YouTubers that run their own for-profit servers, are a thorny issue. They're an accepted and important part of the Minecraft ecosystem. But it also seems reasonable to expect the game makers to receive a fair share of the money they make. Microsoft would need to play nice with these start-ups, while still structuring deals that ensure they grow as the start-ups grow.

In short, the best-case scenario is that Microsoft uses its clout to make Minecraft even bigger, without tinkering what made it blow up in the first place.

The Worst-Case Scenario
The worst-case scenario for Minecraft becoming a Microsoft property is more clear-cut, and revolves primarily around Microsoft taking a more short-term view of how to make more money from the mega-hit.

First off, the PS4 and PS3 (and maybe even iOS and Android) versions of Minecraft would either be removed, or would no longer receive updates. If you want to play Minecraft, you have to do so on Windows or Xbox. This isn't an unreasonable thought for a Microsoft exec that just spent billions.

Next, Microsoft might figure out that once a gamer spends $27 on Minecraft for PC, Mojang makes essentially $0 more from them for life. Unless they buy some merch. To increase that revenue-per-user various real-money boosts and consumables are introduced. Keep your gear when you die. Get free diamond tools. People might complain, but revenue would climb. After that, it's easy to see paid-exclusive block types introduced in version 2.0.

After spending billions, Microsoft would undoubtedly want to protect its investment from any legal concerns. Recreating King's Landing or Mario in Minecraft, and then putting that video on Youtube? That might just be asking for a copyright lawsuit. As a result Microsoft might feel it has no choice but to crack down on individuals making and promoting other real-world brands within their game.

Unauthorized mods and paid servers could also become a thing of the past. If you want to run a Minecraft server, it has to run by Microsoft. Period. Bye bye Pixelmon, Tekkit, Feed the Beast, and so-on.

As a result of piling on these (initially) reasonable-seeming changes, Notch and the rest of the core Minecraft team leave as soon as their contracts are up. Minecraft development is picked up by an internal team at Microsoft. The game never quite feels the same, and its relevance begins to fade.

Towelie

tl;dr -> Don't worry, things are going to be OK. Microsoft didn't buy Mojang to watch ti die, they know and acknowledged that the community/servers are a huge part of minecraft's success and they said that they will work with servers/communities/modmakers more


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spen96

Quote from: Towelie on Sep 16, 2014, 08:58 PM
tl;dr -> Don't worry, things are going to be OK. Microsoft didn't buy Mojang to watch ti die, they know and acknowledged that the community/servers are a huge part of minecraft's success and they said that they will work with servers/communities/modmakers more

Oh boy finally someone who has more than 5 fucking brain cells firing at any given time.

Pritis

Quote from: djkirsh on Sep 15, 2014, 04:19 PM
Read this as "Minecraft bought Microsoft"


Also, I think this may be good for Minecraft. Minecraft isn't too well known. It wasn't until they started making phone apps that people started discovering Minecraft. Maybe Microsoft is going to push it further and make it more well known.
No idea what you're talking about. Minecraft was extremely popular before there was a version for phones.
"My country lay within a vast desert. When the sun rose into the sky, a burning wind punished my lands, searing the world. And when the moon climbed into the dark of night, a frigid gale pierced our homes. No matter when it came, the wind carried the same thing... Death. But the winds that blew across the green fields of Hyrule brought something other than suffering and ruin. I coveted that wind, I suppose." - Ganondorf

Ricky_Ticki_Tovi

I think Microsoft is smart enough to know not to touch MC.  I think that they'll just let Mojang do their thing while they collect some of the profit.  I'm not really concerned.

DarkTrainer45


calin2003

Guys just calm down,everything is gonna be alright nothing will break up this family we will try until the last moment!