[Gaming] Microsoft officially owns Minecraft and developer Mojang now

[Towelie]

Microsoft's $2.5 billion acquisition of Minecraft developer Mojang has officially closed, announced Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft's Xbox division, on Twitter today.

"It's official, today we welcome Mojang to the Microsoft Studios family," said Spencer. "We're excited for the possibilities ahead w/the Minecraft community."

Microsoft announced its purchase of Mojang in mid-September. The company said at the time that it anticipated the deal would close in late 2014, and that it expected the acquisition to be break-even in its current fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2015. As a result of the acquisition, Mojang's founders, including majority shareholder and Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson, left the studio.

"It's not about the money. It's about my sanity," said Persson in a blog post the day the deal was announced.

Mojang joins Microsoft's large stable of internal studios, which includes Halo steward 343 Industries, Forza maker Turn 10 Studios and Gears of War developer Black Tusk Studios. The acquisition of Stockholm-based Mojang gives Microsoft two wholly owned studios in Europe, the other being Max: The Curse of Brotherhood developer Press Play in Denmark. For more on Microsoft's record with picking up game studios, check out our timeline on the company's checkered history of gaming acquisitions.

Spencer confirmed previously that although Microsoft was making Mojang a first-party developer, it had no intention of forcing a halt to Minecraft development on any non-Microsoft platforms. In addition to Xbox 360 and Xbox One, Minecraft is available on Android, iOS, PlayStation 3, Windows PC and more, with total sales of nearly 54 million units across all platforms as of June 25. The console and handheld versions are developed by an outside company, 4J Studios in Scotland.

Check out our timeline of Minecraft from its origins to the present to learn about the gaming phenomenon, and our StoryStream on the Microsoft acquisition for all our coverage.