Microsoft is rumored to be in talks with the company Mojang. Mojang is the company who makes the very popular video game Mindcraft.
After being released in 2009 Minecraft has been released on almost every gaming platform. It has sold more than 54 million copies and is the number one paid app on apple and google devices.
According to the Wall Street Journal Microsoft could be paying as much as $2 billion dollars and the deal could be complete by the end of this week.
Even though this news is still all Rumors and specultions it makes sense and is following the trend of bigger tech conglonerates buying smaller companies. According to CBC " Last month, Amazon bought Twitch, a website where users pay to watch other people play video games similar to sporting events, for $1 billion."
Huge deals in the gaming industry will become more common place. According to Mark Skilton of Englands Warwick school of buisness "The online gaming industry is fast moving from niche collective enthusiast to mass market, and Minecraft is a logical move as big business follows the traffic numbers in the digital world."
Many are speculating as to why Microsoft would be interested in buying this gaming company and this game. Some have speculated that because Minecraft is the number one most downlaoded app, and 40% of it's players play on some kind of mobile device Microsoft is attempting to strengthen their market in the mobile world as opposed to just trying to get people to buy Xboxs. "We don't view this acquisition as a sign of Microsoft's intention to double down on Xbox, but consider it an attempt to better address mobile on a cross-platform basis,"
Minecraft also has a huge potential for other revenues such as toys, movies and clothing. There are many deals already in place including one with Lego.
It makes a lot of sense that Microsoft would want to buy Minecraft. It is a game that already makes a ton of money every year. The wall street jorunal reports that last year it took in about $360 in revenue which is 38% percent more than the year before. Microsoft also wanted to be sure that they would be able to have this game and be able to sell it on their platform the Xbox one, and Windows phones which Minecraft is not yet available on.
Minecraft is also a very adapting and changable games. It's an open world where you can explore, build and play with your friends. It has endless opportuinites for growth, change and updates which makes it a good long term investment.