# Microsoft buys Minecraft **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 15, 2014, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553 "2014-09-15T13:21:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/21 "2014-09-15T18:07:53Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Except, they’re not. Minecraft is still at the top of the iOS and Android sales charts week after week. And the disc edition of the console version has been in the monthly top ten since it was released (it was #3 last month). And the PS4 and Xbox One editions were just released. And WB is making a Minecraft movie. And Minecraft toys/shirts/etc still sell like crazy. > > It’s a tad ridiculous to spend $2.5 billion on a studio with one hit to their name, but it’s not as crazy as you’d think. Right, I think it’s fair to say that the PC version is probably at or near saturation, but console/mobile sales are still doing well. For how long, and how much money they actually make on a $7 Android app, I don’t know, but it’s still doing well. And yeah, perhaps Mojang isn’t quite Right Said Fred, but they haven’t shown any good evidence of being able to come up with further hits–and the guy who wrote their one hit is taking the money and leaving, resulting in the acquisition of a bunch of folks who have simply been adding things/fixing an existing game. I suppose, though, with the IP, even if they don’t make “Minecraft 2” they can make all sorts of mobile or other games–“Steve’s Creeper Hunt” or whatever. I also wonder if, now that it’s Microsoft instead of Notch, if they added a mob that’s black, like’s to steal, and can’t swim, if they get more grief than Mojang got. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/22 "2014-09-15T18:22:34Z")
I wonder how long before extensions lead to the message: ‘_We are sorry, but Minecraft is unavailable for your platform: only genuine Windows 10 and greater is supported_.’. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/23 "2014-09-15T18:28:33Z")
Haha, Microsoft would never do something to attempt to promote the use of windows for gaming. Not for like, over a decade now. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/24 "2014-09-15T18:44:11Z")
Just judging by how much is out there I would guess the Merchandising rights alone will net them a profit after a couple of years. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/25 "2014-09-15T18:58:19Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > Man. So much money. Hard to even fathom what that kind of money does to ones life. Guess he and Dr. Dre can get together and chat about it… “You can only get so rich.” –Bill Gates ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/26 "2014-09-15T19:02:58Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Just judging by how much is out there I would guess the Merchandising rights alone will net them a profit after a couple of years. They aren’t going to sell two billion dollars worth of T-shirts and tchotchkes. World of Warcraft has made about ten billion dollars over its lifetime. The other top earning franchises are in the low “few billion” range. Mojang is currently pulling in about 100 million a year. So its not completely ridiculous that a video-game franchise could make two billion over a decade or so, but Minecraft alone probably won’t. A lot of people that want it already have it, and there’s a limited amount that Microsoft can do to change its business model without pissing off its already pretty suspicious userbase. But I suspect the plan is to have a franchise of sandbox type “Minecraft” games. If Microsoft can show the can do a good job caretaking the existing game, they’ll have a loyal user base that will follow them into future iterations, where they can actually start cashing in. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/27 "2014-09-15T19:15:21Z")
There is a market for licensing bits of Minecraft to other studios’ (or selling as microtransactions for other Microsoft) games. Look at how many Minecraft tools & weapons are in Steam Workshop. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/28 "2014-09-15T19:31:32Z")
My theory is that they’re buying the studio and its IP in order to have something actually desirable on Surface tables. They’ll boot directly into Minecraft and people will actually be interested in buying them. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/29 "2014-09-15T20:01:52Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > My theory is that they’re buying the studio and its IP in order to have something actually desirable on Surface tables. Selling tables with just the legs and charging extra for the surface is something EA would do, not Microsoft. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/30 "2014-09-15T20:17:21Z")
Also didn’t Microsoft come out with their own sort of Minecraft? It was a game where you can create your own games. It sounded interesting but required Windows 8 so I never looked further. I would imagine that might be dead now. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/31 "2014-09-15T21:34:52Z")
I hope they fix the graphics so they’re not all blocky ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/32 "2014-09-15T22:30:47Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Also didn’t Microsoft come out with their own sort of Minecraft? It was a game where you can create your own games. It sounded interesting but required Windows 8 so I never looked further. I would imagine that might be dead now. Project Spark. It’s more or less an Xbox One showpiece. The Windows 8 version is mostly just an afterthought (as is the even more ignored Xbox 360 version). It’ll be out in October, so definitely not dead. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/33 "2014-09-16T01:08:10Z")
I don’t know how many of you guys have kids, but the passion with which they love Minecraft is absolutely out of sight. My younger daughter has at least $200 of Minecraft merchandise, and she’s a rank amateur. My eldest just got into it (when we bought it for her for her birthday) and it’s now the primary reason she owns a computer. The Minecraft bug usually hit at around 8-9 years old, so every kid younger than that is a future Minecraft consumer. You know what they could do to make half a billion dollars in sales in six months? “Minecraft II,” that’s what. If they invited people to invest in it and kept the existing development team I would sell everything I owned to buy a piece of the action. It doesn’t really even have to be all that different from Minecraft 1.8. It’s an automatic buy for 10, 20 million users. Or “Spacecraft.” Or somethingCraft. They will buy. If they’ve sold 20 million copies I’m surprised it’s that few. They will sell millions more. There are many, many, many millions more kids that that and once they get a taste they’re like methheads for it. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/34 "2014-09-16T01:13:47Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I don’t know how many of you guys have kids, but the passion with which they love Minecraft is absolutely out of sight. My younger daughter has at least $200 of Minecraft merchandise, > > [redacted] > > If they’ve sold 20 million copies I’m surprised it’s that few. They will sell millions more. There are many, many, many millions more kids that that and once they get a taste they’re like methheads for it. I wonder if “mineheads” or “craftheads” is the better term. So, why is it so popular with children? I mean, I get that legos are fun but there must be more to it than virtual legos. What did your daughter buy for 200$? Thread: Since Microsoft is big on trying to have encompassing systems (e.g: Windows + Explorer, Xbox One + all the crap they tried to bundle with it) it’s likely that they’re buying this as a product that people will very much want and which they’ll be able to bundle their crap with. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/35 "2014-09-16T01:25:21Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > So, why is it so popular with children? I mean, I get that legos are fun but there must be more to it than virtual legos. It’s the ability to play Lego with other people, I suspect, plus to be IN the Lego world, plus have enemies. I mean, _I_ like the game. I got a little tired of solo play and now I can’t find a server I like, but I go back to it now and then. There’s just something about it. > [@](#): > > What did your daughter buy for 200$? It’s not what she bought, it’s what everyone else bought. What did she was for birthday/Christmas/anything? Minecraft stuff. So she has a backpack in the shape of a creeper (huge, huge hit at school) plus a stuffed creeper toy that goes ssss-boom, and a Minecraft calendar, a plastic “Steve” figurine, two Minecraft posters, a foam diamond sword, etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/36 "2014-09-16T06:50:39Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Thread: Since Microsoft is big on trying to have encompassing systems (e.g: Windows + Explorer, Xbox One + all the crap they tried to bundle with it) it’s likely that they’re buying this as a product that people will very much want and which they’ll be able to bundle their crap with. It’s a single game, you can’t really bundle anything with it. Some people are acting like this deal is out of the blue, but MS has worked with Mojang before to create mini-expansions to the Xbox version of Minecraft skinned with Mass Effect and Halo creations. I expect to see a full scale version of “Minecraft Halo” pretty soon, similar to how Lego has made a killing with their Lego Star Wars/Lego Indiana Jones/Lego Batman games. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/37 "2014-09-16T08:14:22Z")
MS has made their share of blunders but somewhere there’s a nice spreadsheet with vetted figures that shows this deal turning a buck. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/38 "2014-09-16T08:23:52Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > I wonder if “mineheads” or “craftheads” is the better term. I’d say “Minehead”. It sounds like a real word you’d use to describe part of a mine, and it’s apparently the real name of a place in Britain. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553/39 "2014-09-16T08:30:51Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > You know what they could do to make half a billion dollars in sales in six months? “Minecraft II,” that’s what. If they invited people to invest in it and kept the existing development team I would sell everything I owned to buy a piece of the action. It doesn’t really even have to be all that different from Minecraft 1.8. It’s an automatic buy for 10, 20 million users. Or “Spacecraft.” Or somethingCraft. They will buy. Yea. For much less then 2.5 billion they could get good developers and build their own similar game. But attaching it to the already popular “Minecraft” might well be worth that much, especially if they spend the next few years showing the existing community they can do a good job stewarding the already existing game. Plus even if they don’t get their money back in direct sales, being associated with a good line of products that’s popular with young folks might be worth taking the loss, given Microsofts ailing brand. Blizzard’s lawyers might have something to say about using the “Xcraft” formula for naming games in the franchise though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-buys-minecraft/698553.md?page=1)