Microsoft Purchases Minecraft for $2.5 Billion
Microsoft Purchases Minecraft for $2.5 Billion
Microsoft recently forked out $2.5 billion to buyout Mojang, the creators of Minecraft. Experts in the industry believe the price was possibly a little bit too much, although it’s not like Microsoft can’t afford it. Some understand the buyout while others are left baffled to why Microsoft purchased the popular building game. Well here are some of our thoughts to why they bought Minecraft.
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To attain younger customers
Aside from their Xbox consoles, Microsoft doesn’t really have a stranglehold on younger consumers. They hold less than 5% of the smartphone and tablet market, although we expect this may change with the acquisition of Minecraft.
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They have crappy apps
Can you name any awesome apps in the Window store? No, and neither can we. Apple and Android have the biggest and undoubtedly the best selection of mobile apps. However, we have a sneaky suspicion that it won’t be too long until we see the Minecraft app in the Windows store strengthening their OS appeal.
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Minecraft has a huge following
The Minecraft app in the Apple App Store is ranked as the #2 most downloaded paid app in the store. The game itself has received more than 48 million downloads in total, they are as follows:
- PC and Mac – 15 million
- Xbox – 12 million
- Mobile apps – 21 million
Microsoft claims that the numbers are actually double that and closer to 100 million. Either way, 50 or 100 million, it’s still a lot of people!
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They see potential
Microsoft is not one of the biggest companies in the world just by luck; they have the best people working for them and know a good investment when they see one. Microsoft estimates they will start to break-even on the purchase of Mojang by mid/late 2015, that’s around about a year from now.
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Possible collaboration with LEGO
For those who are not gamers, Minecraft is very similar to LEGO, the aim of the game is to build, and keep building. Minecraft and LEGO have already started a collaboration, but maybe we will see a computer games between the two in the future, meaning more revenue for Microsoft?
As it stands now, Microsoft has not mentioned too much on what their plans are with Minecraft. It would certainly be interesting to see what would happened to the mobile and tablet market if Microsoft decided to make all future version of Minecraft only compatible with Windows devices. It would certainly help them gain a greater market share, but how would the consumers react?
Are you a Minecraft gamer? If so, leave a comment below and let us know your thoughts on the new takeover by Microsoft.
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