Microsoft Buys Minecraft - Farewell Notch, Jeb and Dinnerbone

Notch confirmed today that Microsoft have officially bought Mojang and all rights to Minecraft. The final decision to sell the company was made by Notch himself and no other. As you might expect, the Mojang team are hugely disappointed in Notch and it's now an emotional rollercoaster as their future is decided for them.

In a moving post on his website, Notch revealed that the pressure of Minecraft's success finally got the better of him, with the recent EULA saga being the final straw that broke the camel's back. Notch simply wants to go back to being nobody again, participating in Ludum Dare and web experiments. In his post he even threatens to quit any project which becomes as popular so as to avoid the limelight.

Mojang Team

I say fair play to the guy. He's had a tonne of flack through the years and his marriage broke down because of the pressure. I can still remember the early days of Alpha and Beta when Notch was still running the show. The weekly updates were amazing and the whole community were behind Notch. It's sad that in the space of a couple of years everything went into meltdown as the game grew too big for its own good.

Mods, Tools, Snapshots? Things will change

I think we can safely say that Minecraft mods and tools will slowly fade away now. The Microsoft policy for unofficial changes is far stricter than anything in Notch's tender and they'll want to reclaim some of that ground.

As for Snapshots, The 1.8 updates were probably the last we'll see of the weekly snapshots. I can't see Microsoft continuing with the weekly updates and I suspect they'll go with larger monthly updates at best, maybe with some paid content as well.

The elusive Minecraft API will never see light of day, not that it looked like it was getting any closer anyway. Microsoft will be focused on selling Minecraft servers, pre-built and ready to go. The Realms idea never really made it but with Microsoft's Azure it's only a matter of time before they add the option for purchasing Minecraft servers on demand.

Then there's the question of PS4 and PS3 versions of Minecaft? They'll probably die off quietly while the Microsoft consoles reap the rewards of the acquisition. Exclusive DLC is bound to happen, it's only a matter of time really.

Dinnberbone and Jeb will leave soon

Where does this leave the rest of the Mojang crew? In limbo to be honest. They're going to be taken over by a huge corporate company that overseas every decision. Jeb and Dinnerbone had done extremely well in meeting the expectations of the Minecraft community and Minecraft was ticking along slowly, but surely. With Micorsoft at the helm, the weekly snapshots will cease to exist and the two of them will become drones in the food chain.

I say that it's with absolute certainty that Jeb and Dinnerbone will leave Mojang soon. They've pledged their immediate loyalty but I doubt they'll last till the new year, and are probably looking for new opportunities already. They know only too well what happens when the big company steps in.

It's especially sad for Dinnerbone, the guy put his heart and soul into the game for the benefit of the rest of us. He recently moved to Sweden to be closer to the team and now he'll most likely be coming back home again. I always felt that Jeb and Dinnerbone really believed in Minecraft and loved the results of their creations.

I doubt that Dinnerbone will find anything as unique as Mojang again though. The work ethic at Mojang was irreplaceable, the charity Mojams were sensational and everything was done the indie way. Those days are truly gone now.

So farewell Minecraft, you were a one off and I doubt we'll see anything like you again for some time!!