Report: Minecraft Developer To Be Bought Out By Microsoft

If you think that Microsoft was done with buying up exclusivity rights, one report from the Wall Street Journal may see Microsoft doubling down on that notion, and in a big way. According to them, they spoke with “a person with knowledge of the matter,” who claims that the software company is in “serious discussions to buy Mojang AB,” the development group behind the ever-popular Minecraft.

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GameSpot reached out to Microsoft asking about a possible buyout that would see the producers of the Xbox One involved in a deal with the Minecraft creators that “would be valued at more than $2 billion.” The spokesperson said, “We don’t comment on rumors or speculation.”

At the very least, let’s give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt. “Done deals” happen all the time, and what we end up seeing months (not days) later is something completely else happen instead. It also feels completely out of character for Minecraft creator Notch to jump ship from his company for a large sum of money when he already has boatloads of it and retains ownership of his property.

Such a move would also be a bit of a head-scratcher for Microsoft. What, exactly, would be the point of the company to create a multi-billion-dollar venture into a relatively-small company for just one promiment IP? The possibility of keeping Minecraft on PC and Xbox platforms seems a little pointless when trying to drive profits, as well as to keep away a popular franchise from expanding further on the PS4, PS3 and PS Vita. Unless there’s a Minecraft 2 hiding in development that we don’t know of, I can’t find a benefit or series of benefits that outweigh spending billions of dollars just to prevent competition from buying a product.

For now, this will be regarded as a rumor and we’ll update you on any happenings to tell you if Minecraft and Microsoft will be in cahoots when all is said and done.

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