Hm, a massive investment in gaming and they're still supporting rival systems?

No good news for the future of Xbox hardware I guess... Seems like they prepare for a future without dedicated gaming hardware, but I could obviously be wrong.

I'm disappointed. Why? Because I think the guys at Mojang do their stuff because of passion, while the guys at MS do their stuff because of money. I'll be really surprised if Minecraft doesn't get milked to death eventually. Also, expect a Minecraft 2 (name could change) in two to three years from now. And it will have microtransactions.

It sounds odd, but MS expects to break even by JUNE 2015, 

(good luck with that)

Lolll oh you

It would be interesting to see MS becoming only a 3rd party publisher/developer.

Told ya they'd cash out. I would, too. Microsoft just bought Mojang for $62 MILLION PER EMPLOYEE. The founder's share has got to be ridiculous.

On second thought, I actually imagine Minecraft will see more consistent support from now on, but I really wonder what Microsoft has planned. A Minecraft SEQUEL would likely be an XBox exclusive, but I doubt I'm interested.

So in the end it wasn't Sony or Nintendo that turned third party, it's Microsoft lol

i can understand how he got overwhelmed at how big minecraft became. I was slightly worried about what Microsoft would do with it, but they appear to be in favor of keeping it on the platforms it is currently on, thankfully.

At least for now.

A couple of comments.

Minecraft sells for $6.99 on the iOS AppStore. It sells for $19.99 on consoles. It sells for $26.95 on PC.

On April 29, 2014, the sales breakdown was 21 million on iOS and Android, 13.5 million on consoles, and 14 million on PCs. Assuming these were all bought at current prices (which I know they weren't, as you could have purchased it much cheaper on PC during the beta, for example), the average price is $16.38. And that doesn't take into account what the platform holders get (for example, Apple gets 30% of a sale from the AppStore). Assuming Microsoft were able to keep all of the money from an average sale, they would need to make 152+ million additional sales. This is an additional 3x the existing sales. I don't see this as being likely...

http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/29/5665834/minecraft-sales-15m-copies-pc

What about DLC? Licensing? These would also add to Minecraft's income. Well, I found another interesting article. Mojang made $326 million last year, for all of 2013. Given that number, and assuming it stays roughly constant for the next while, it would take Microsoft 7.7 years to make back their money. Still think this was a good investment?

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/minecraft-maker-mojang-made-a-whopping-326m-last-year/1100-6418397/

And this is where it gets interesting.

The article points out that out of the $326 million that Mojang made last year, only $128 million was actually profit, while approximately $128 million went to a SEPARATE company for licensing fees, a company owned by Mojang co-owner and Minecraft creator Marcus "notch" Persson,

Based on profit, again, assuming it stays constant, it will actually take Microsoft 19.5 years to make back their money.

I am assuming that Marcus will keep earning money through royalties, since none of the articles mentions that Microsoft also bought the rights to the other company...

BTW, I do see Microsoft cooking the books on this to make shareholders happy. This is what I think they could do:

If they bundle a copy of Minecraft with every XBox, Windows Phone and Windows PC, Microsoft will pay Mojang a fee that will make Mojang's profits look amazing, in turn making the purchase of the company seem worthwhile. The money spent by Microsoft on Minecraft will be partially offset by the profits received by Microsoft from its subsidiary Mojang (and therefore not affect the overall Microsoft bottom line too much to upset investors). Win-win?