p>Microsoft has confirmed that Mojang and Minecraft will join its ranks, however, it will continue to make the game available across iOS, Android and PlayStation? as well as on Xbox and PC the company announced today. Microsoft says that they started discussions about making the game available on the Xbox console, and from there witnessed the game's immense success and decided to make the acquisition to "diversify its game collection."
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p>The founders Markus "Notch" Persson, Carl Manneh and Jakbok Porser quit Mojang following the acquisition by the team, they announced. Mojang's official website has confirmed that the purchase cost was $2.5 billion. The Mojang community team said that Notch was not averse to controlling such an enormous company and would prefer to work on smaller projects. The decision sell was designed to help Minecraft continue to grow, while allowing the founding team to pursue other interests.
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p>Mojang makes no assurances about the specific future plans in the pipeline for Minecraft but it does say that for the moment, it will remain as normal. Microsoft says it "respect[s] Minecraft's brand and its unique spirit" and will continue to work on projects such as MINECON, an annual convention that focuses on the game that was created by Mojang in 2010.
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p>The response of the community to this announcement is likely to be mixed, and the most dedicated Minecraft fans who've been with the game since its humble beginnings are likely to distrust the new corporate owners However, the logic behind the purchase is sound. At the very least we'll have the opportunity to determine if Notch can replicate the success of the next generation's Lego similar game.
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p>Here's Notch's personal thoughts on the deal and his thoughts on leaving the company he built on his blog, which was in the process of crashing at the time of writing. :
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p>I'm leaving Mojang
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p>A long time ago, I made the choice to step down from Minecraft development. Jens was the ideal person to lead it, and I wanted new things. In the beginning I failed when I tried to make something big again however, since I've chose to stick with small prototypes and interesting challenges I've had a lot of enjoyment at work. While I wasn't sure how I would fit in Mojang where the majority of people work, I was told that I was essential to the culture, so I stayed.
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p>A couple of weeks ago, i was suffering from a bad cold at home, and the internet went on a rage about me because of an EULA situation in which I was not in. I was confused. I didn't understand. That was my frustration. Then, I watched the This is Phil Fish video on YouTube and realized I did not have the connection to my fans that I believed I had. I've become a symbol. I don't want to become an object of ridicule. I don't want to be accountable for something I don't know about. That I don∏t want to do anything about. I'm not an entrepreneur. I'm not a CEO. I'm a nerdy computer programmer who enjoys sharing opinions on Twitter.
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p>As soon as the deal is concluded, I will leave Mojang and continue to work on Ludum Dares and other small web experiments. If I make a mistake and it gains traction, I'll probably end the project immediately.
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p>Given that the public image of me is already a bit disorganized, I don't anticipate to avoid negative feedback by doing this however, at least for now I won't have a need to read them.
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p>This is in contrast to my public statements. I have no good response to this. I'm also aware a lot of you used me as a symbol of some perceived struggle. https://serverlist101.com/minecraft-servers/ I'm not. I'm a person and I'm struggling with you.
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p>You are my best friend. All of you. Thank you for turning Minecraft into what it is today however, there are too many of you, and I'm not the sole person to be responsible for something this massive. It is Microsoft's property now in a certain sense. In a larger sense, it's been a part of all of you for a long time, and that won't change.
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p>It's not about money. It's about my sanity.
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