Microsoft are fortunate of being one of the most richest and successful cooperations, with a market cap of $382.91 billion, money is hardly ever an issue with them. Hence, with their latest console the Xbox One which hasn’t been too successful in overcoming victory over their main competitor the Playstation 4, a few simple negotiation techniques from Microsoft can convince companies to allow ownership and partnerships with practically whomever they want. Recently, the Xbox One has been released in Japan with a pathetic amount of sales of just 23,562 units, which shouldn’t have even been much of a surprise to people considering the target audience of the Xbox towards the Western world!
Just yesterday, the latest rumours of the Microsoft and Mojang takeover seems to be actually happening according to Bloomberg. Despite Markus Persson ironically stating in June that Mojang doesn’t “exist to make as much money as possible for the owners”, sources from Bloomsberg reveal that Markus himself has attempted to influence this deal with Microsoft and trying to initiate this deal to happen – Mojang could end up being sold for $2 billion, what’s even worse is that ‘Notch’ is supposedly intending to leave after the process is done!
Yet fans of the popular sandbox game shouldn’t cry it sheer terror from hearing the apparent news of this takeover, just because Microsoft will be controlling the reigns of Minecraft from now on, it doesn’t exactly mean that other console versions (such as the recently released PS4 version, or the PS3, Vita or Smartphone editions) will now be stripped from the fantastical creative game, instead the game will still remain on PC platforms as well as all of its over existing consoles it supports.
Nonetheless, could Microsoft and their infinitive influx of money become the key technique to redeem the Xbox One console (which hasn’t been the top-selling the console of this generation) and attract various audiences of gamers? Currently, the VGchartz sales figures of ‘this generation’ as of the 23rd August signifies just how poorly the Xbox One has been currently selling globally in comparison to the other current generation home consoles; the Wii U and the PS4.
Microsoft are known for their plentiful acquisitions where they’ve been able to adapt their technologies, but Xbox specific acquisitions such as the purchase of ‘Rare’ back in 2002, or the intense Xbox-centric relationships with EA or with Square Enix and the ‘Rise of the Tomb Raider’ timed-exclusive deal and other cases where Microsoft use their money in order to progress the Xbox have all caused controversy and criticism by gamers; so should this possible Mojang deal be any the same? It’s worth noting that unlike the other deals where Microsoft most likely pursued for their other takeovers to meddle with, this time Marcus Persson himself has allegedly been pushing this, making it not similar to the other Microsoft deals.
Minecraft alone has managed to sell 54 million copies by June 2014, The Bloomberg report states that the intentions of Mojang in collaborating with Microsoft is to boost sales with the range of Microsofts products and also the finance of Microsoft allowing more franchising:
“It can boost Minecraft sales by expanding the number of game users through Microsoft’s position in video games and computers, and by expanding licensing for things like toys and movies, said one of the people.”
With Microsoft possibly in control of one of the most major sandbox games which originated as an PC indie game, has exclusive access to EA games (the exclusive FIFA 15 features on the Xbox One alone is enough to generate hype to western societies) and also a timed exclusive of the sequel of the incredible reboot prequel (it’s confusing, I know!) ‘Rise of the Tomb Raider’, there’s a chance that numerous amounts of different selections of gamers and all with different gaming interests will now be willing to purchase an Xbox One due to it’s range of exclusivity. It doesn’t even have to stop there, when we talk about the immense wealth of Microsoft, we weren’t kidding! There’s some outstandingly deep pockets which will willingly fund more money for either more exclusivity, or just general takeovers which will cause an even higher influx of interest for the company and their consoles, the Xbox 360 and the Xbox One!
What’s your opinion, does Microsofts ability to purchase various companies ignite excitement for the Xbox One, or does it just worry you that they’re instead refraining the gaming community? Share your thoughts below!
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