After this, I hope to never mention Minecraft again. It’s official – Microsoft has just splurged a whopping $2.5billion on Mojang. The founding fathers of the company itself are going to be stepping down (no doubt with massively fatter pockets), to allow Microsoft to creep in, kick its shoes off and get comfy as the new chairman of the board. It turns out this isn’t going to be a bad thing at all for gamers – Microsoft may have played their cards close to their chest, but I’ve played poker at least three times, so I can read those dirty bitches like a book.
You’d think with 56 million copies of Minecraft already sold, there would be little scope for MS to make back that $2.5billion it’s just spent – but we’re all wrong. Minecraft is going to continue to be supported across all platforms. Microsoft have just taken a plunge that I see Sony and Nintendo one day should follow suit in, they’re becoming a multi-platform game publisher. That’s where the money is, and whilst Minecraft has already more than peaked, there’s still scope for monetization, expansions and wonder deals with thirds parties. Every single purchase of Minecraft now belongs to Microsoft, so that means if you’re enjoying it on your iPad or your Playstation someone in Apple & Sony is pissing blood with blind rage for not thinking of this bold move first.
From here we’ll see a more deliberate push on niche packs for Minecraft. Microsoft have the leverage needed to push some really niche things, for instance a UFC pack. OK, so that’s not true but don’t be surprised if we start seeing some really clever cross over textures, tapping into some of the biggest game titles. People will buy. Next up is Phil sounding like Andy from The Office, whilst talking about the acquisition.
