Microsoft announced today that it is buying Mojang, a Swedish game company that is responsible for the megahit Minecraft, for $2.5 billion. It’s the most significant acquisition for Microsoft since it bought Nokia last year, and one of the biggest developments of the year in the gaming world.
If you’re like me (childless, born in the 1980s, casual gamer), the odds are good that Minecraft is a mystery to you. What is this game? And why did Microsoft deem it worthy of a giant pile of money? Here, fellow olds, this should help:
What is Minecraft?It’s an open-ended, exploration-based video game created in 2009 by Swedish game developer Markus “Notch” Persson. Players begin in an empty, barren world, and have to gather and mine various materials, while gathering food and fending off attacks from monsters, to survive. There’s no instruction manual to follow, and no explicit goals to achieve. It’s what gamers call a “sandbox game,” one that lets players modify the world around them in nearly infinite ways.
So it’s like the Sims?Sort of, but it has much more in common with LEGO. Minecraft is a platform for creative expression that allows players to do almost anything, including “modding” the game itself and creating vast environments that resemble real-world places or fictional worlds. (Like these two guys who used Minecraft to re-create George R.R. Martin’s Westeros brick-by-brick.) It’s also much more prosaic-looking than the Sims — with simple, blocky graphics straight out of the Super NES days.
How did a blocky-looking, directionless video game become huge?Persson uploaded a half-finished demo of Minecraft to YouTube in 2009, then released a playable version on the independent gaming forum TIGSource later that year. In a move that surprised many gamers, Persson decided to charge for Minecraft even in its early versions — $13 per copy. After the game started to take off, Persson quit his day job to focus on Minecraft full-time. By the time it had officially launched in 2011, it was a bona fide smash, selling a million copies within its first month in wide release. Persson did no advertising except for word of mouth, and, eventually, he had the biggest game in the world.
Today, more than 54 million people have bought Minecraft. There are Minecraft conferences called MineCon, and Minecraft is routinely the No. 1 app in both the Apple and Google Play app stores. It has also spawned a huge and active community, which itself is part of the attraction. As Robin Sloan wrote on Medium, “The true Minecraft is the game plus the sprawling network of tutorials, wikis, galleries, videos.”
Who plays Minecraft?That’s the interesting part — it’s not whom you’d expect. As the Times says, Minecraft “has succeeded partly by demolishing generational and gender boundaries that usually carve the games business into separate categories.” It’s hugely popular within the male gamer community, but girls play, too. Young children play Minecraft, and their parents play alongside them. No video game is for everyone, but Minecraft seems to be the freakishly rare exception.
Kids play this thing? I thought parents hated video games.Not Minecraft. In fact, after I asked about Minecraft on Twitter the other day, I got several responses from parents who swore it was a godsend for their kids. Unlike most video games, Minecraft isn’t violent or gory, and it’s based on creativity and problem-solving. It’s not an educational game, per se, but it seems to be teaching kids lots of real-world skills, and parents are grateful.
Okay, so this thing is popular. But why is it worth $2.5 billion?Because it makes money. Thanks to its old-school strategy of actually requiring people to buy a game before playing it (instead of using in-app purchases, for example), last year, Mojang made $126 million in profits on $289 million in revenue. That’s a lot for a studio that has only 28 employees. And combined with the tech world’s obsession with youth, it’s a surprise Microsoft didn’t pay more than $2.5 billion for it.
How do Minecraft fans feel about the acquisition?They’re skeptical, to put it mildly. After news of the deal leaked, angry Minecraft fans voiced their frustration on Reddit and other forums, accusing Persson of being a sellout and worrying that a Microsoft-led Minecraft would be ruined. “To them the idea of an independent company getting acquired by a larger corporation is just foreign,” Tommy Carpenter, the lead editor of Minecraft Forum, told The Wall Street Journal. “They don’t understand what would cause that to happen.”
Mojang is trying to reassure longtime Minecraft fans. In a post announcing the acquisition today, the company wrote: “Change is scary, and this is a big change for all of us. It’s going to be good though. Everything is going to be OK. .”
What’s happening to Minecraft’s inventor now?He and his two co-founders are leaving Mojang. In a blog post today, Persson explained his decision to ditch the company he started and go back to developing other games:
That said, “it’s not about the money” is a pretty easy thing to say, when you’ve just sold your company for $2.5 billion.
Has Minecraft’s founder ever made any disparaging statements about Microsoft that are now coming back to embarrass him?Funny you should ask! In the past, Persson has not been a Microsoft fan at all, and has been tweeting digs like this for years:
I get why Minecraft is worth a lot of money now. But won’t people eventually get sick of playing it, like the Sims, Angry Birds, Candy Crush, and every other game out there?It’s certainly possible. TechCrunch writes that “the way no one saw Minecraft coming, we probably won’t see the game that usurps it coming, either.” And Persson once called the game’s success a “freak thing” that could never be replicated intentionally.
But Minecraft isn’t like most games. It gets better over time, thanks to all the amazing things players are building inside it. And it’s not likely to be eclipsed by better-looking games, since slick graphics have never been part of its appeal. Even if Microsoft never manages to create a sequel to Minecraft with as much appeal as the original, we could still be looking at several more years of profitable, obsessive play.
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How Much is Minecraft Worth?
No Light at the End of the Tunnel:
Needless to say, game-makers are quite witty since they not only have to extract money from people but also keep them enticed simultaneously. This could be one of the reasons why the game, Minecraft, has no end! Yes, you read that right!
While most games have a limited number of levels, Minecraft simply does not end. Like other games, you cannot get this game over with and start over again. With Minecraft, you can explore and expand your hold in the game for years, if not months! Now, if you compare this situation with the one you end up with after you reach the end of your favorite series, then the game reigns supreme, does it not? Therefore, considering this factor the one-time payment may not seem as expensive as it did before since there is no light at the end of the tunnel!
If you are aware of the market shenanigans, you must be aware of how a product’s popularity directly affects its price. Thus, if a product is not in demand, the price is prone to be reduced to a level that people might find suitable. But, if a product is in high demand, then the price is bound to soar to the skies! In the case of Minecraft, you should know that the game is loved by parents and children alike since the game is supposed to test your mind and engage you in critical thinking.
Thus, this popularity factor helps to increase the price. You can compare this price with the one that Minecraft had when it was introduced: it was free back then! The game-makers, to form a large user-base, had to sell it for free initially, but as the user-base gradually expanded so did the price of the game rise! Moreover, the popularity results in the making and selling of merchandise.
Initially when the game was released, all it was was merely a simple application. However, over time, the game was developed and enhanced immensely! Since it was free in the beginning, its popularity made the creators ask for money. Nevertheless, you can say that it was not just to fill their own pockets. Anyone who has recently bought the game will let you know that you can build your world in the game, play in survival mode, make cool weapons yourself, and defend yourself! In addition to all this, Minecraft offers various add-ons that you can get by paying a few extra bucks.
But what’s more interesting is that you can get a free trial of these add-ons so that you know that you’re not wasting your hard-earned money on something that you may consider extremely useless. Besides, you are offered realms in the game which means that you can invite up to 10 friends to play with and alongside you! Although to get this realm, you have to pay some extra money, you can have a free trial to see if this is something that you like!
The game may seem a bit on the higher side to you if you are getting a multiplayer subscription. The only demerit is that it is necessary to get this multiplayer subscription because, without it, you wouldn’t be able to play at all! However, this subscription can be helpful if you intend to play any game and not just Minecraft. Nevertheless, before buying a game, it is imperative to know all about the add-ons and how much these will cost. For instance, you might think that you are buying a $30 game but in reality, you might have to pay $10 a month for add-ons or subscriptions.
This might disrupt your budget and you might end up with an empty bank account by the end of the month. Thus, the reason you find Minecraft expensive is because the add-ons are highly-priced. Moreover, if you are content with the base version of the game, without any add-ons, then the cost of the game is not that much.
Before you decide that Minecraft is expensive, you must be aware that there are a plethora of popular games that are either equally or more expensive. You cannot deny the fact that video games are quite costly, no matter what. And this is because people are willing to pay for them since they are quite engaging and mind-boggling. Moreover, the video game market has seen a rise in sales since the pandemic because kids are stuck at home.
Therefore, such games provide good relief from the monotonous life that people live nowadays; they are a beautiful escape from the harsh reality that people are forced to become accustomed to. Although these games can be quite harmful, when played in moderation, they can help in improving your bad office mood.
Now that you have looked at all the factors that make it seem like Minecraft is expensive, you must know that these are quite genuine. There is no doubt that a lot of money is put into certain aspects of any game, such as the vivid-seeming graphics. Therefore, it is only natural that video games are costly.
Moreover, video games often come with certain add-ons that add to the high price. Initially, Minecraft isn’t expensive, but considering the cost of the add-ons and certain other features, it might seem highly priced. In addition, when a game acquires popularity, it is obvious that the prices are going to burgeon. Nevertheless, when compared to other such video games that are out in the market, Minecraft may not be that expensive.
Game Has Gotten More Complex
Part of the reason Minecraft has gotten so expensive is that it has improved tremendously from when it was first released.
The question then becomes, did it really get expensive, or did it just change so much from the original release price?
With Minecraft having no end and the fact that you can have different worlds and play against other players, it’s hard to complain about the value you get with this game.
With the newest Minecraft games, you can build things, play in survival mode, craft weapons, and defend yourself.
The game has evolved from a simple application to being quite a bit more complex.
There are also lots of add-ons you can get for your Minecraft world.
Some of these could cost more money, but they usually have a trial you are able to use before you purchase the full-price version.
The new Minecraft also offers realms.
Realms allow you to play up to ten friends across a variety of platforms.
These realms are available to you and your friends at any time and from any location.
This is an additional cost, but again, you can try it out a bit before you make the commitment to purchase.
Essentially, one of the reasons Minecraft is so expensive is that it continues to give people more and more for their money.
When you enter into Minecraft’s world and get hooked on the benefits, you will find that it becomes easier to justify the price you pay.
In Minecraft Worth the Price?
Now that we have discovered what it is that makes Minecraft cost so much, it is worth looking into whether or not it is worth the price.
Minecraft is a game that can provide hours of entertainment.
In addition, Minecraft can be good for your mind.
As you build and move forward in the game, you will be able to use lots of critical thinking and planning skills as well.
If you work for or against others, the game keeps your mind sharp and even helps you interact with other people.
Whether or not Minecraft is worth the price is going to have to be a personal decision.
You will have to consider the time you have to put in plus the budget.
Most people who have been playing Minecraft for many years will have no problem explaining the benefit and why it is undoubtedly worth the price.
FAQ
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