SAN FRANCISCO – Prior to the start of today’s GamesBeat conference, the room was buzzing with talk about Microsoft’s blockbuster $2.5 billion acquisition of Minecraft developer Mojang. The company’s co-founders aren’t making the jump over to Microsoft, which is causing some consternation amongst serious Minecraft fanatics.
GeekWire hit the floor as everyone was chatting and grabbing some pre-conference coffee to see what game industry insiders had to say about the news. Here’s their take:
Colin Cox, COO, Demonware: “Amazing at the value…. For a single guy to create that kind of thing and to get that kind of return from it is amazing. It kind of shows what one person can do without going through big AAA publishers.”
John Thompson, Game Designer, IGT: “I’m trying to be cautiously optimistic about the entire situation. I’m actually a very big Minecraft player. I play a lot of modded PC Minecraft, so my hope is that Microsoft is just buying it primarily for the IP. They want to make Minecraft Kart, they want to make toys, they want to make movies and all of that. And I’m hoping they leave the PC modding community alone. I’m crossing my fingers, we’ll see what happens.”
Vince Ghossoub, CEO, Falafel Games: “It’s surprising, and it’s sad initially, because the founders are leaving and I wonder what Minecraft is going to end up being like. But anyway, it’s in the hands of users, so I think it’s going to be okay.”
Markku Nummila, CEO, Grandyou.com: “I think that generally in the industry, consolidation will happen, mergers, probably some companies will disappear. And in my opinion, it is a more difficult year than the year before, and it shows in the industry, and maybe this is a consequence of that. I don’t know if suddenly we will see other acquisitions like that.”
