Microsoft 'In Serious Discussions' to Purchase Minecraft Dev Mojang
A Reuters report claims that Microsoft’s deal to purchase Mojang could be announced as early as September 15 for $2.5 billion, according a source close to the matter.
According to Reuters, Microsoft's intention to purchase the Minecraft developer could be an attempt to bolster the former's mobile platforms.
Microsoft -- the parent company of the Xbox and Windows brands -- is apparently "in serious discussions" to purchase Mojang, according to The Wall Street Journal. Mojang, of course, is best-known for its massively popular Minecraft series.
WSJ cites "a person with knowledge of the matter" in their story, and says the valuation of Mojang could be more than $2 billion. Microsoft and Mojang both declined to comment to WSJ; we've reached out to Mojang for additional comment.
Mojang, founded by developer Markus Persson in 2009, has two still-unreleased games in development -- Cobalt and Scrolls -- as well as Minecraft, which it's still endlessly iterating on with updates and ports.
Microsoft's investment to purchase Mojang, if true, would give the company complete control over not only the studio's upcoming games, but it's all-important, insanely lucrative Minecraft series. As of June, the game has sold over 54 million copies, and has actually sold best on consoles, which bodes well for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
Minecraft launched in late 2011 on PC, and we loved it. It later migrated to iOS and Android before coming to Xbox 360 in 2012, where it sold like gangbusters. A PlayStation 3 iteration launched late in 2013, which we also loved, and the game just came to both Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The only other known, upcoming version of the game -- for Vita -- is due out in the coming couple of months.
Source: IGN
Originally Posted by Eugene
