Carl-Manneh
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Mojang revenue hits $237 million in 2012
We already knew that 2012 was a particularly legit year for Minecraft maker Mojang, what with its principle product being purchased over 15 million times and everything, but now we have a better idea of what success like that translates to in dollars. Well, technically in krona and then translated again into dollars, but whatever.Overall, Mojang's revenue for 2012 tallied up at SEK 1.5 billion, or $237.84 million at current exchange rates, according to GamesIndustry's translation of Swedish publication IT24. Nearly half of that revenue (SEK 640 million/$101.48 million) was derived from the collection of license fees. Meanwhile, pre-tax profits were reported at SEK 580 million ($91.96 million), although no post-taxes/net income figures were provided.One of Mojang's biggest hurdles is the non-universal nature of its online payment system, CEO Carl Manneh told IT24: "We have so many markets where we are not very strong yet," he said, "where many play Minecraft but few have bought it simply because you can't use our online payment solution there. That's something we'll get our hands to during 2013."
Mojang working on three new games, two of which will be announced before Q3
Mojang seems to know that, like sharks, developers must continue to move forward at all times, lest they succumb to an early grave. The company's cuboid-smashing smash-hit Minecraft might be enough to allow Notch and crew a break, but rather than rest on their laurels the team at Mojang continues to plow ahead by working concurrently on three unannounced titles. One title is, of course, being spearheaded by Notch himself. As Minecraft's shimmering golden crown has been passed to Jens Bergensten, Notch is now free to focus on his new project that, according to Mojang CEO Carl Manneh, is still a complete mystery: "What it is today, I don't think he knows himself," Manneh told Edge. "We certainly don't. It's probably going to be a lot of testing and playing around to see what works." As for the developer's two other projects, Manneh says that Mojang is currently under non-disclosure agreements with other companies that prevent the developer from being as transparent as it would normally prefer. However, both games will be announced (and potentially even released) during the first half of 2012. Our gut instincts tell us that at least one of these new titles will be a Kinect-enabled rhythm/shmup thrift-store clerk simulator.
Minecraft: Pocket Edition now available on Android Marketplace
A few hours ago, Carl Manneh, Mojang's managing director, tweeted that the Android version of Minecraft was now available for download on the Android Marketplace, albeit a bit late. Admittedly, we should've checked right away, but we were right in the middle of getting the shingles looking just right on our floating palace city, Joystiqia. We did check (eventually) and found that Mr. Manneh, sure enough, is not yanking our chains -- Minecraft: Pocket Edition is currently available for $6.99 on the Android Marketplace. And if you want to know exactly what you're getting for those seven bucks, there's also a free demo you can download. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have to back to our palace. There's a giant Chris Grant bust he's making us build in the foyer.
