Yes, Microsoft spent some of that cash piled up in its coffers to buy Mojang (the parent company for Minecraft) and Minecraft itself. Just like when it bought Skype, I felt the betrayal of selling out by those wonderful people behind the product. Of course, if I owned Minecraft I would have sold it in a heart-beat for the $2.5 billion they got.
What’s funny: Unlike so many acquisitions, it is reported that the Minecraft developers are “leaving the company” as part of the deal. I guess they don’t want Bill Gates and friends putting them on a schedule.
I only hope for my sons’ sake that nothing changes for at least another two or three years.
Is this bad news?
I read this on Ars Technica:
What could be a boon to the Minecraft community is Microsoft bringing its tremendous focus, planning, and development resources to bear on the game. Development on Minecraft has been a haphazard affair since 2010, with original developer Persson adding whatever features seemed to strike his fancy without performing adequate testing. The expectation right now is that the majority of the company’s employees will remain in place and working on Minecraft. Founders Markus “Notch” Persson, Carl O. Manneh, and H. Jakob Porsér, however, will all be departing. (Read it here)
Personally – I think it is good news… for capitalism!