Microsoft buys Minecraft studio Mojang, but promises to continue iOS, Mac development
Everyone's favorite sandbox game, Minecraft, is now officially owned by Microsoft thanks to a $2.5 billion deal the company made to purchase developer Mojang. The buy will see Microsoft take control of a game that is published -- and extremely popular -- across many of the platforms of its competitors, including PlayStation, Android, and of course iOS and OS X.
In a statement released by Mojang, the newly-acquired company notes that while Microsoft will now be calling the shots, there is no reason development for all platforms would be affected. Of course, how this all actually plays out will be watched with a close and critical eye by the millions and millions of Minecraft fans, but the fact that the game continues to rake in cash from all angles, it would serve Microsoft well to continue support on all fronts.
An unfortunate side effect of the buy is that Minecraft creator and Mojang founder Markus "Notch" Persson will be leaving the company entirely, along with two co-founders. Notch gave up his helm on the Minecraft project a while ago already, but has remained the majority holder of Mojang. In a post on his personal blog he notes that selling the company and Minecraft is "not about the money. It's about my sanity."
