The rumors were true: Mojang, the company that develops Minecraft, has been bought by Microsoft for $2.5 billion. What does this mean for the multi-platform Minecraft and Mojang’s other game Scrolls?
In an official statement, Mojang says there is no reason for the development, sale and support of any version of Minecraft to stop. But the company stopped short of guaranteeing that. It would be surprising to see Microsoft limit Minecraft’s future to solely Microsoft platforms (Windows, Xbox and Windows Phone), as the game has huge sales on all platforms.
As the deal is still fresh, Mojang itself doesn’t know Microsoft’s exact plans for the future of Minecraft. Microsoft has promised ‘to make Minecraft available across platforms – including iOS, Android and PlayStation.’
Mojang doesn’t know what’s in store for its other projects, like collectible card game Scrolls. None of its games have had the same impact or popularity as Minecraft.
The three founders of Mojang will leave the company. This of course includes Minecraft’s creator Markus ‘Notch’ Persson. He explained on his personal blog that Minecraft has become too big for him, he is uncomfortable with being a public symbol for indie games, and wants to return to his roots of developing small games and web experiments.
Download Minecraft for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS.
Source: Mojang, Notch, Microsoft
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