Microsoft would be close to buying Mojang AB

In Redmond they seem ready to go shopping and their object of desire is somewhat surprising. According to The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft would be very close to buying Mojang AB, the Swedish company behind the development of Minecraft. So close that the acquisition could close this week for just over $2 billion.

Bloomberg elaborates on the deal, which may have began months ago following an approach by Markus Persson, aka 'Notch', to MicrosoftApparently, the creator of Minecraft and founder of Mojang AB maintains a close relationship with Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, and both would soon have reached an agreement regarding the framework of the sale and the price.Since then both companies have been working on the details of the operation.

After creating Minecraft, Notch founded Mojang AB in 2010 to channel the overwhelming success of his game. Since its creation in 2009, Minecraft has sold more than 50 million copies and has versions for a huge number of platforms. Without going any further, this month it came to Xbox One. All of it governed by a team of barely 40 employees who have managed to make the company generate 100 million dollars in profits during the past year.

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If the deal comes true, it&39;s amazing. And not only because of the number of 2,000 million dollars that Microsoft would be willing to pay During these years Notch has been characterized by a strong defense of the indie scene, reaching refusing capital investments in his company and criticizing Microsoft for considering that Windows 8 was very, very bad for indie games.Notch went so far as to decline the invitation to certify Minecraft in the Windows Store, assuring that he would not do so until Microsoft stopped ruining the PC as an open platform."

But that was 2012 and Notch may have changed his mind. The developer, who ceded creative control of Minecraft years ago, would now be willing to sell his own company to Microsoft. Of course, although it would help with the transition, Notch does not plan to continue in Mojang AB after the sale By then Minecraft would be in the hands of Redmond, where they believe that they can still exploit the franchise with more games and licenses for toys and movies.

Via | The Verge