It’s funny how anyone would even question the Microsoft/Mojang deal. Do you think Microsoft has monkeys working in their finance and strategic acquisitions department? That was a rhetorical question! It’s true they’ve had their share of failures, but just like any motivational quote will tell you, you have to persevere by not giving up. Microsoft, despite the odds, struck gold with the Mojang acquisition.
Facts:
- Microsoft has 80+billion CASH MONEY on deck. This is only a 2% investment. Most companies rule of thumb is you should spend 10% on marketing, so you can imagine this alone is a smart decision (the game even markets itself!).
- Mojang has so far sold over 60 million copies of Minecraft across all platforms.
- Mojang has revenue generated from license deals with LEGO, clothing, DVDs, music, toys, JINX, toys R Us, Walmart, Youtube, general merchandise, etc.
- With upcoming Minecraft 2 and the Hollywood Minecraft Movie deal, revenues will soon exceed the multibillions WORLDWIDE.
Minecraft is still in its premature state, it was publicly released for the PC on May 17, 2009, as a developmental alpha version and, after gradual updates, was published as a full release version on November 18, 2011. That means that it wasn’t official until end of 2011, meaning the game’s lifespan just started and it is going to be lengthy.
Minecraft’s demographic ranges from children through adults and has a 50% male to female ratio. Children at the age of three years old are just barely being introduced to the game and getting addicted. Minecraft will easily be relevant well into and pass the year 2025. There’s still augmented reality Minecraft and Oculus Minecraft!!
For those who don’t believe the game will last that long, I present to you the case of Tomb Raider. Originally it was released on PC in 1996, and just last year in 2013, another Tomb Raider game title was added to the list. Same thing with of course the obvious, Mario.
Overall, we at Gearcraft predict the deal will generate over $15-20 billion in revenue during its lifespan.
There’s also an inspirational value that Minecraft brings which is priceless. No seriously. Have you seen the crazy things people have built in Minecraft? It’s taught kids math, coding, socializing skills, planning, organizing skills, delegation skills and most importantly, how to dream.
There are worries of course that Microsoft can mess up the game, but I don’t think so, Minecraft has a huge community and its only popular because of the involvement the community has with the game decisions. If Microsoft screws that up. Then yes, they could totally burn the game and its popularity.
