Microsoft to buy Minecraft for 2 Billion Dollars

Just typing the headline made me point up my pinkie finger and do a Doctor Evil pose. 2 billion dollars is an incredible amount of money and I'm sure that Notch never in his wildest dreams ever considered it a possibility for his life.

But to put it in perspective that turns out to be about 37 dollars per user. I've already paid $27 for my copy. I have a Minecraft poster on my wall that cost 10 bucks. I'm in the market for a new laptop that will have to have a dedicated processor and will come with a copy of Windows 8 on it all because I want to play Minecraft on it.

And! The Little Wikkies all are starting to want it so I'll have to buy an Xbox, and a copy, and subscribe to the online shit.

By the time my Minecraft adventure is done I'll have spent a few thousand on the game. At $37 that's a pretty good return on investment.

Of course, this announcement will break the internet. Or perhaps it would have a couple of years ago.

Microsoft isn't the evil empire it used to be. That's Apple and Facebook now. Most of us (with the exception of those Linux nerds who spend too much time getting Ubuntu to run on their toaster to matter) recognize that Zuckerberg is the antichrist and that Apple would make us buy it on iTunes and squelch any independent development.

And Mojang isn't the little indie darling it used to be. It's worth 2 billion dollars. The game has become bigger than Notch, the company, or it's free spirited ideals. Quite frankly Minecraft is too big for Mojang. If it remained there it would probably die a horrible death from a lack of corporate infrastructure.

Today it's good news. Microsoft is already invested in Minecraft through the Xbox platform. They have teams of programmers and engineers they can put on the team to deal with those performance glitches and bloated engine that Notch developed. We're going to see faster updates, more features, different game modes, and a solid marketing team that will ensure that Minecraft will be with us for a long time.

There are fears and concerns: will it lose its indie feel and flavor if Microsoft gets its hands on it. Will we have to shell out for Minecraft 2 as Microsoft finds ways to further monetize the property (thanks EA for the shitty Sims business model). Will Minecraft continue on in perpetuity with the single lifetime payment that we made to Mojang being honored (class action anyone?). Will private servers still be a thing?

Will they let Bukkit and independent modders continue to do their thing or will that aspect of the game that made it popular die out. Or, perhaps, will it open up opportunities for those modders to work for Microsoft and get paid for the good work they do.

Lot's of questions. It's easy to get emotional on the issue. Our game is getting bought out by the man. But in the end it's a good thing because it means that Minecraft is going to go on for a long time.