A report from the Wall Street Journal claims that a source close to Mojang AB has revealed that Microsoft is in discussions to purchase the Swedish studio.
WSJ reports that the deal could see Mojang’s purchase price reach as high as $2 billion and “could be signed as early as this week.”
A new report from Bloomberg today cites three sources closes to Microsoft who say that the deal was instigated by Markus “Notch” Persson, founder of Mojang. Two of the three sources state that the deal could be concluded this week, but would most likely take until next week. Persson allegedly reached out to Microsoft due to the positive working relationship he had experienced while working on the Xbox 360 version of Minecraft.
Following Persson’s initiation of talks, both companies agreed on a framework and price for the deal and have continued to discuss the details says one of Bloomberg’s sources. They also state that while Persson will oversee the transition, he is unlikley to remain with Mojang beyond that.
In June of this year Minecraft sales had topped 54 million across all available platforms. The sandbox, world building game was released for both PS4 and Xbox One last week and will be available for PS Vita in the near future.
According to one of Bloomberg’s sources, Xbox Chief Phil Spencer has a close personal relationship with Persson and has been meeting Mojang’s founder for for dinners, presumably to assist in closing the deal. The source claims that Microsoft believes it can increase Minecraft’s already substantial player base and influence by expanding development and licensing.
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