I noticed I’ve been a bit quiet with posts lately. I was very busy during most of September but I’ve got some code-intensive stuff I’m expecting to share in a future blog post (It involves the Theme API), so look forward to that- or don’t, It’s not my choice.

Over the past week or so, a rumour, tracing it’s source to a “Source close to the matter” in a Wall Street Journal article, has spread like wildfire particularly amongst the Minecraft community. The rumour is that Microsoft is currently negotiating with Mojang to purchase Mojang. As somebody who used to be rather involved in the Minecraft Community and one who actively uses and appreciates many Microsoft technologies and offerings, It seemed like a good topic for a post.

I will ignore the various aspects of “is this true or not?” It is easy to find reasons to doubt it as it is to find reasons to feel it is legitimate. Instead, I want to focus on the impact, assuming it is true. The reason is that I think Microsoft has had some heavy misrepresentations within many forum, blog, and articles I’ve seen posted on this issue in regards to what people seem to expect Microsoft to do with Mojang properties. I’ve heard claims that Microsoft would fire all Mojang employees and replace them with Microsoft employees who would rewrite Minecraft in C++; I’ve heard claism regarding Microsoft injecting Minecraft with DRM, and all sorts of wild claims.

I find these claims particularly baseless. Assuming the acquisition goes through, this is not going to be the first one Microsoft made. And in particular, most game studios keep a good semblance of their individuality- the only real transfer is the ownership of the IP.  It is unlikely that Microsoft would change anything- it is worth considering that changing anything within the operations of a company that you just bought sort of diminishes the value you had apparently placed into it to purchase it. You don’t pay 2 billion dollars for a company that needs sweeping internal changes.

In those terms, I think this would not be the “Doomsday” that many seem to predict.

There is, however, a flip-side to this coin. While I cannot fault Microsoft for wanting to be involved in the very active and popular Minecraft, I am surprised (again, I’m assuming it is true) Notch, the creator of Minecraft, would perform such a heel-face turn. It is- perhaps disappointing in a way. Earlier on he was always standing beside his principles of Software freedoms, anti-DRM, and even rallied against Windows 8, even though his understanding of it was about equal to a 5-year old’s understanding of quantum fissures. If the rumours are true, than I think this speaks to a lack of character in some ways, since it suggests he is willing to throw out his principles simply because he sees enough dollar signs. If it goes through, I have no doubt he will try damage control with some nonsense about “doing what is best for the company”, but make no mistake that if the sale goes through he is set to be a heavy beneficiary.

In many ways, this is why I find myself doubting the story. I disagree with Notch/Markus on many of his prior Anti-Microsoft ramblings regarding Windows 8 and MS being evil and such, but I at least respected his character in holding those positions; if he changed his mind based on information, I can respect that as well- Strong opinions, weakly held.

But if all it took to suddenly change his strong opinions was enough 0’s, that I find disappointing. There is an old saying, that “everybody has their price”. To provide a rather vulgar example, You would be hard-pressed to find a person who would not suck a dirty hobo to orgasm for a billion dollars. I mean, if you ask most people, they will stick by their principles. Most people are definitely about helping the homeless, but that is definitely far off the radar. The difference comes when somebody actually has a billion dollars. They have suitcases of real, verified Money amounting to a billion dollars. And it’s all yours if you can give smelly Sid here a good time. The fact is, you can buy mouthwash later. It will be disgusting and unpleasant, but once it’s done, it’s done. And somehow I never expected this post to somehow devolve into a thought experiment involving homeless people fellatio, which I suppose is just a further illustration of how unpredictable our actions can be.

Supposedly the results/decision will be announced Monday. My personal prediction is that there may be a partnership deal between the two companies, possibly involving XB1 exclusive content (this has happened for a few games for Xbox 360 and Xbox 1 previously). A acquisition seems rather out of left field, and given the vagueness of the description of the sources provided, they may not be as privvy to the details and may be filling in blanks themselves. So how accurate will I be? Well, we’ll find out Tomorrow- or, Rather, today!

 
Edit: Well, I was completely wrong here. Oh well!