4 ms·

Well, Notch (and the other 2 founders) are leaving Mojang. I have no idea whatsoever why MS paid that amount of money. I congratulate Notch, though. Shall he ha

• brudgers 12y ago
  In the US, Minecraft is huge among boys born around the millennium. I have no idea about other demographics, but is one to which I have direct access. This is also the generation that is likely to have had an Xbox 360 or Wii as their first console experience...or at least as a major one. For a company with the revenue of MicroSoft, this is a reasonable investment in the possibility of a potentially huge increase in mindshare among an important long-term demographic. Just the database alone might be worth the purchase price.
• ctdonath 12y ago
  Minecraft has some 100,000,000 users with 14% of them paid versions. If Microsoft can elicit just $25 from each user, they break even. That's not just from straight sales, that includes "sticky ecosystem" money (somebody might not pay for Minecraft outright, but may buy an Xbox and related games/gear as a consequence) and brand licensing ("pixelated" foam costumes & swords, books, other inane paraphernalia). If we assume just 14% of users pay game-related costs, break-even comes at $180 each (which still isn't that high considering entry cost + monthly server + upgrades). Sounds like a sensible move, if they don't screw it up. They may be able to improve the franchise by raising standards for infrastructure & participation. Yeah, Notch is certainly at the "take the money and run" stage. There won't be another chance at $1B cash.