This is it... the big one. One of the biggest games of all time, with over 50 million copies sold across all platforms, Mojang's Minecraft presents a colossal figure on the gaming landscape. And now it belongs to Microsoft. Well, it will do, once the ink dries on Microsoft's $2.5 billion purchase agreement of the Stockholm-based developer. This is huge news, and has sent a shockwave across the industry for a number of reasons. Firstly, that price tag. $2.5 billion is crazy money - many would be shocked to hear that the outspoken Markus "Notch" Persson would "sell out", but very few could look at a figure like that and not flinch. In a recent blog post Notch claimed that the deal, which earns him around $1.4 billion, is "not about the money. It's about my sanity", and to be frank, that kind of money can buy a lot of sanity. Another aspect which has people talking, besides that ludicrous price tag, is the question of exclusivity going forward. Microsoft has made it clear in its announcement of the deal that this does not mean Minecraft will be pulled from competing consoles, but that's quite an ambiguous statement - it tells us that the game will continue to be supported on the other systems, sure, but what of future releases? And that's where things get interesting: one would have to imagine that a long term gameplan for this deal would be for Mojang to create a proper next-gen sequel at some point, and ship it out exclusively to Xbox One consoles. And that, right there, could be the biggest crowd-pulling factor which Microsoft has in its arsenal to capture new audiences. A new Halo or Gears Of War will be a treat for those already entrenched in the Xbox way of life, but that means nothing to outsiders. Something like Minecraft 2 is the key to stealing valuable, significant market share away from Sony. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, things just became very exciting, very quickly.
Game-obsessed since the moment I could twiddle both thumbs independently. Equally enthralled by all the genres of music that your parents warned you about.
