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Did Microsoft did a good job taking over the Minecraft IP?

  • Yes

    Votes: 2,348 90.3%
  • No

    Votes: 88 3.4%
  • Too early to say...

    Votes: 163 6.3%

  • Total voters
    2,599

Karate Kid

Banned
Jan 29, 2018
340
In 2014 Microsoft purchased Mojang including the Minecraft IP for $2.5 billion. 6 years later did was it a good investment? Microsoft wants Minecraft to be a 100-year brand.
 

Deleted member 44122

Guest
they probably made that money back a long time ago, so yes
 

Fevaweva

Member
Oct 30, 2017
6,463
It has its peaks and troughs but Minecraft has become part of the cutural psyche. So definitely.
 

Deleted member 26156

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 30, 2017
1,579
Not even a question, Minecraft has continued to be one of, if not the most popular game on Earth over the past 6 years. Not even mentioning merchandise, they've probably made well over the initial investment.
 

PlanetSmasher

The Abominable Showman
Member
Oct 25, 2017
115,322
Absolutely. They have a franchise they can easily monetize on every platform known to man.
 

Meg Cherry

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,252
Seattle, WA
They currently own the most beloved media franchise of an entire generation, which seems to be actively growing in popularity.

It was a smart buy.
 

kadotsu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,504
It was one of the best IP purchases in decades, on the level of Marvel and SW.

The important thing for me is that they have been better than expected in shepherding the game and monetization.
 

Deleted member 56752

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
May 15, 2019
8,699
I think the only way someone could possibly say no is if they're super hardcore and personally feel it added nothing to MS catalog, which is not the question. Objectively, yes. Wise decision
 

Rouk'

Member
Jan 10, 2018
8,125
We will never know how well/badly Minecraft would have done without the MS acquisition. But the Minecraft brand is still on fire and its popularity hasn't slowed down in the past 6 years. So yeah, they definitely did a good job.
 

DopeyFish

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,781
i remember when many people thought they were crazy

who knew they had less than 10% of the sales by that point
 

Stop It

Bad Cat
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,345
I mean, Minecraft sells tons still, utterly ridiculous amounts.

They've made that back already and the IP is probably worth double that if it was sold now, if not more.

Easily one of Microsoft's best purchase decisions.
 

nekkid

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
21,823
They've already made their money back, and then some. By any metric the purchase was a wise decision.

Have they? I know they announced some years back that they'd hit "break even" but it was in reference to the income generated from Minecraft being higher than the amount the money would be making on the interest on the cash.

Did they ever announce that profit from Minecraft was higher than the purchase price plus ongoing investment in resource?
 

OneBadMutha

Member
Nov 2, 2017
6,059
Better question...did the purchase of Minecraft benefit the Xbox console brand in any way?

I'd say an easy yes there as well. If not for the purchase and success of Minecraft, Spencer would not have been able to sell Nadella and Hood on keeping the Xbox alive. The understanding of mindhsare explosion and potential cross-sell of your brand once it's freed from a single piece of plastic is why Xbox is alive and going through a healthy transformation.
 

Bentendo24

Member
Feb 20, 2020
5,339
One of the smartest business decisions in the industry's history I'd think. 2.5b, in this context, was super cheap, and I think it'll pay off for decades to come. For some kids, Minecraft will become one of the most nostalgic properties, and Microsoft is sure to capitalize on that. They are prepared for the long game even though they're already making bank.
 

Roshin

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,840
Sweden
They have made their money back already and are sitting on one of the strongest IP's around, so it should be yes all the way.
 
Nov 8, 2017
6,311
Stockholm, Sweden
It was legit one of the best deals in videogame history, microsoft made some serious bank on this deal, both in terms of money and mindshare.

They have also done a great job further developing the game and treating their fanbase right.

But i'm not gonna lie i was one of the many who thought minecraft had already peaked and that microsoft was too late to the party, oh boy was i wrong.
 
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Gareth

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,432
Norn Iron
I think it turned out to be a pretty smart decision and they've handled it well. Seems like it's going to continue to be good for them for a while yet.
 

The Lord of Cereal

#REFANTAZIO SWEEP
Member
Jan 9, 2020
9,584
Minecraft is everywhere, and that likely will not change any time soon. Even when it started to decrease in popularity, like a year ago, it still came back and was at the forefront of gaming again. I feel like now that the game is 10 years old, on every platform imaginable and still popular, it will be nostalgic for several generations and will likely not be going anywhere anytime soon.

Microsoft buying Minecraft was quite possibly one of the best decisions they could have made, allowing Minecraft to have the budget to truly expand and become the ultimate game for people everywhere. I mean hell, they even supported the 360/PS3 versions until mid 2018 if I remember correctly
 

RankFTW

Member
Oct 28, 2017
715
Scotland
I got 2 of my kids a Switch each and Minecraft for their Christmas last year. Every day they're coming up to me asking me to buy this and that from the store. I always tell them no but I'm sure there are millions of parents/kids out there spending money every day on it. They've more than made their money back.
 
Oct 26, 2017
13,596
Abso-fucking-lutely. Also as strange as it is, it's even what brought the series to Nintendo platforms evidently as it's no coincidence that the Wii U version only popped afterwards IMO. It would also be the first MS-done version (their logo was on the back cover as well as their copyright was first thing in it, fucking crazy). Hell MS even published all Nintendo versions in Japan. I am not kidding.

The game's sold insanely on Switch. Selling well over a million at retail alone in Japan. MS's been making serious bank on that alone. Lord knows what MS's been making from all the other versions, plus merchandising, etc.

They probably made their money back in like a year or so. $2 billion is no small change, but this was a absolutely worthwhile acquisition and arguably MS's smartest one so far. They handled it pretty much as well as possible.
 

Bentendo24

Member
Feb 20, 2020
5,339
Have they? I know they announced some years back that they'd hit "break even" but it was in reference to the income generated from Minecraft being higher than the amount the money would be making on the interest on the cash.

Did they ever announce that profit from Minecraft was higher than the purchase price plus ongoing investment in resource?

I obviously don't have numbers to back it up, but I work at a major retailer and Minecraft merch sells like crazy. They have probably made their money back in merch sales alone, and I'm not even remotely exaggerating