Mojang being bought by Microsoft

Obviously there's the extreme end of "everything will be ok", where everything remains as is, and "THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!!11!1!!1!!!!!1!", where everything dies. (the scariest thing I read that a reporter/commentator - WSJ I think - wrote was to imply that Minecraft "only does a pay-once" approach and that it should be a monthly subscription. Kind of doubt that would happen. If Microsoft does say, and I'm not too familiar with how Microsoft's games and YouTube work, "All ad revenue goes to us", I can see the following happening -

1 - Major YouTubers - They'll still be around, just not playing Minecraft. Most of the major ones play other games, too, and get just as much revenue from those games. In fact, some of the major YouTubers don't even play Minecraft as much. Granted, the Yogscast might take a hit, since I think they still play Minecraft almost exclusively.

2 - Average YouTubers (ones with 30,000-500,000 views total per video) - If they only make Minecraft videos for a living, then yeah, they'll take a hit and the channels may go down. Also, some of them that do make videos of other games still make most of their income from Minecraft. Popular servers that have LP'ers on will probably still be around, but you might see far fewer videos if they're relying on YouTube as a main source of income.

3 - Smaller YouTubers (ones that just do it for fun) - If they're not making any money off of it anyway, they'll still make videos. Mostly, i'll be the 8-14 year old range posting videos to impress their friends, without a care of who the money is going to (much less they probably don't even monetize).

Maybe Microsoft might do some sort of deal, like a 50/50 split, or if they do make Minecraft 2.0, then they'll "grandfather" the old YouTube community (either they can still monetize, or all videos before 9/15/2014 (or whenever the finalized deal date is) are allowed to be monetized, but not after.

As for modding, I did a quick check on AoE3 and HALO. It looks like "modding" in those games are just changing skins or stats (I consider this configuring, not full fledged modding). I think the jury's still out on what effects Microsoft will have on the community. Technically, they now own Bukkit, and could strictly enforce the EULA. Even for other APIs like Forge, in the short run, it could hurt if they're not allowed to mod Minecraft, but Microsoft could still develop an API.

As for Minecraft 2.0, I wouldn't be surprised if they did a total rewrite to the .NET platform. (Ironically, Infiniminer was done on XNA, kind of a cousin to the .NET platform). So, in one sense, Minecraft's kind of coming full-circle. It's also possible that they leave the Windows version alone, at least the JAVA version (i.e., let the remaining (former) Mojang employees work on it), while they take the reigns on the xbox/mobile versions. Who knows, maybe for the current version, it'll be a "Minecraft Retro" type deal where Dinnerbone and Jeb continue to work on it, but use Microsoft resources for an API. Meanwhile, Microsoft works on the Windows 8 (.NET 4.5.1?), XBox, and mobile applications of it.

Long story short, I guess we'll have to wait to see whatever the contract is, if we get to see it, or read about what's in it.








REDMOND, Wash. — Sept. 15, 2014 — Microsoft Corp. today announced it has reached an agreement to acquire Mojang, the celebrated Stockholm-based game developer, and the company’s iconic “Minecraft” franchise.

The Mojang team will join Microsoft Studios, which includes the studios behind global blockbuster franchises “Halo,” “Forza,” “Fable” and more. Microsoft’s investments in cloud and mobile technologies will enable “Minecraft” players to benefit from richer and faster worlds, more powerful development tools, and more opportunities to connect across the “Minecraft” community.

Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will acquire Mojang for $2.5 billion. Microsoft expects the acquisition to be break-even in FY15 on a GAAP basis. Subject to customary closing conditions and any regulatory review, the acquisition is expected to close in late 2014.

Available across multiple platforms, “Minecraft” is one of the most popular video games in history, with more than 100 million downloads, on PC alone, by players since its launch in 2009. “Minecraft” is one of the top PC games of all time, the most popular online game on Xbox, and the top paid app for iOS and Android in the US. The “Minecraft” community is among the most active and passionate in the industry, with more than 2 billion hours played on Xbox 360 alone in the past two years. Minecraft fans are loyal, with nearly 90 percent of paid customers on the PC having signed in within the past 12 months.

“Gaming is a top activity spanning devices, from PCs and consoles to tablets and mobile, with billions of hours spent each year,” said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft. “Minecraft is more than a great game franchise – it is an open world platform, driven by a vibrant community we care deeply about, and rich with new opportunities for that community and for Microsoft.”

“The ‘Minecraft’ players have taken the game and turned it into something that surpassed all of our expectations. The acquisition by Microsoft brings a new chapter to the incredible story of ‘Minecraft,’” said Carl Manneh, CEO, Mojang. “As the founders move on to start new projects, we believe the high level of creativity from the community will continue the game’s success far into the future.”

Microsoft plans to continue to make “Minecraft” available across all the platforms on which it is available today: PC, iOS, Android, Xbox and PlayStation.

“‘Minecraft’ is one of the most popular franchises of all time,” said Phil Spencer, head of Xbox. “We are going to maintain ‘Minecraft’ and its community in all the ways people love today, with a commitment to nurture and grow it long into the future.”

More details will be available upon the acquisition closing.

thats what all the big companies say, we listen to the community but at the end of the day they do not.
sadly enough and my experience with Microsoft is...they want to monetize all there products.

but we will what the future of minecraft brings.

o yes i do agree with you that microsoft has his amazing progammas that are use around the world ( i use them myself)

but please read this link:

read this