Microsoft in talks to buy Minecraft for estimated $2 billion

So, I’m seeing all these stories pop up with news of Microsoft putting an offer of $2 billion on the table to buy Minecraft creator Mojang. That is a serious amount of money I don’t care who you are, and if this goes through, it would be an amazing rags to riches story for Markus Persson (Notch). Just think of it, he develops this game to make a little money on the side and not only does it catch on, it turns into a phenomenon. It’s not just some little game that kids are playing, adults flock to the banner and start to build some amazing structures that rival the pyramids of Egypt. Not only that, the game gets modded like crazy so that not only do you have infinite blocks, you get infinite variety. And he did it all without the help of any big publishing company. Notch didn’t turn to the likes of EA or anyone else and published the game completely independently. That is something to behold on it’s own in this day and age. Now Microsoft wants to swoop in. While I envy the amount Notch will get and wish him all the best, I really hope Microsoft doesn’t get their hands on this game.

I’m a huge fan of Minecraft. I love the way it works and what it has to offer. I don’t play it nearly enough and I completely suck at building things, but I love the game all the same. My problem is, Microsoft doesn’t have a good track record with games and the game companies they buy. We need to look no for further than Age of Empires, Rise of Nations or any one of the dozens of games that Microsoft kicked to the curb in the recent past. Age of Empires was an insanely successful game which Microsoft shelved and disbanded. Go look up the history of Ensemble Studios and Big Huge Games. Both created blockbuster games for Microsoft and both are completely defunct now. Microsoft developed a big following in the game industry then shut it all down.

To be blunt, they shouldn’t be trusted. I have no doubt Microsoft will kill off development for Minecraft on iOS and PC development will take a back seat to the Xbox One. All the dev time will go into making Miencraft a success on their mobile platform because Microsoft doesn’t have anything else going in that arena. Microsoft has made some strides in embracing iOS, but we know they’re doing it begrudgingly and will drop it like a hot potato as soon as they can. I feel Minecraft will be wrenched out of our hands and all those mods and changes we’ve come to know and love will get shut down. This isn’t Microsoft bashing, this is based on past history. Microsoft has brought in great companies with amazing games and flushed them down the toilet. I would love to see Notch get one truckload of cash after another for all the work he’s done, but I really don’t want the messenger to be MS. They ruin companies and it would be a damn shame to see them get their dirty hands on Minecraft only to kill it off within the next year or so.

Sad to say, but the same would happen if EA got their hands on this game. They ruin games just as badly as Microsoft does and they don’t know how to put out anything except one Madden title after another. Look at how messed up Need for Speed is these days.

Then again, I could be wrong.

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