You're worth whatever someone is willing to pay for you. 

MS will do anything to stop Minecraft coming to Wii U!
Gamepad inventory will kill all other versions!

Yeah exactly... were talking about the figure of $2 billion. That would be stupid money which ever way you look at it.

$2b would make alot of new games... all could be new IP... why waste it when you could literally fund Sony out of the way.. or even better pay for a GTA type game a few times over..

I believe the FIFA licence itself says that you have to dev the games for every piece of hardware under the stars, so it's not worth it for any first party to pick it up.

@ topic )

this sounds like a very unlikely rumor, that kind of money is much better invested elsewhere and Microsoft should be aware of that

The LEGO movie was lightning in a bottle. Franchise whoring doesn't always work out. Remember the Mario movie?

We have no idea what kind of contracts Mojang signed with Sony, they may not be able to just pull the game off PSN. Maybe not for a while.

Which doesn't change the fact that buying the entire company, which is harder than buying the entire IP, is a collosal waste. MS could get the Minecraft IP, which is what one would expect they want from this rumored acquisition, but Notch could easily and legally, just take the Minecraft IP with him and start another new company or LET IT DIE like Fish.

And If I know that, then obviously, MS Legal team, have already written this out and discussed this because I'm not a Lawyer.

Furthermore, In order to have Minecraft on the PS4, there is a licensing agreement, which must be honored by whoever owns the IP.  

A $2 billion acquisition has to come with the blessings of Nadella and the broad Microsoft board ... most of whom don't care specifically about gaming. 

Minecraft is different because it is the no.1 paid smartphone/tablet app in the world today along with also showing signs of being a break out merchandising/toy phenomenon ... apparently there is a Minecraft Movie (from the LEGO Movie guys) already in the works for example. 

Grand Theft Auto is just a video game IP that would only benefit the XBox division. Minecraft benefits Windows + mobile Windows + XBox + MS in general as an entertainment entity. 

Haven't you see show like dragon dens or shark tank ..... They take buy up stake in small business because they can use their marketing muscle and increase revenues and make killer profits.

Microsoft want the Minacraft Brand. Mojang made 322 Million selling Minecraft and Minecraft toys. Microsoft would expand the brand and make multi games with Minecraft and increase the market for Minecraft toys and related goods.  Mojang doesn't have nearly the marketing power of Microsoft.

I don't know if I believe in this article but man this would be mind buggling if and when Microsoft purchase Minecraft. 

The Mario movie was just terrible, lol. But that's like pointing to the Marvel movies of the 90s, like the terribad Captain America film from 1990 and saying there's obviously no potential in Marvel movies ever. 

Nintendo probably could make a mint off some of their IP in movie form if they handled it correctly, but I don't think they have that kind of vision. Wreck It Ralph is largely a film based off of Nintendo character-types (Ralph is Donkey Kong, Fix It Felix is Mario, Mario Kart is obviously the inspiration for Candy Racing). 

I just can't wrap my head around this. What does Microsoft grain from this? This whole thing is the exact opposite of the Tomb Raider deal. That was a wise move , this however, is not.

Minecraft has sold 54 million copies, how much more does MS think it will sell to warrant $2B? The game is already on everything and sales will only go down. Not even Minecraft 2 will be able to match the success of the original. Most of the sales were precisely because of the new gimmick, why don't you ask Nintendo what happens when your new popular gimmick is played out?

Is sticking it to Sony really worth 2 billion dollars? Because as of right now that's the only immediate gain I can see. Dropping support for rival consoles would surely bring the attention to your products (particularly mobiles) but I'll be damned if there aren't cheaper ways to do that.

The worst part is I can't see Mojang not taking the deal. I mean surely they know the franchise already passed its prime, and that the other IPs are nothing special. Unlike Squenix, them taking the money is actually the smart move.