Tag: notch

BREAKING: Minecraft Joins Microsoft And Notch Leaves Mojang!

by Shane O'Hare

The rumours turned out to be true. The video game sensation, Minecraft and it’s company Mojang are to be acquired by Microsoft. Announced on their official Business reports blog this morning.

The Mojang team will join Microsoft Studios, which includes the studios behind global blockbuster franchises “Halo,” “Forza,” “Fable” and more. Microsoft’s investments in cloud and mobile technologies will enable “Minecraft” players to benefit from richer and faster worlds, more powerful development tools, and more opportunities to connect across the “Minecraft” community.

 

Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will acquire Mojang for $2.5 billion. Microsoft expects the acquisition to be break-even in FY15 on a GAAP basis. Subject to customary closing conditions and any regulatory review, the acquisition is expected to close in late 2014.

 

Available across multiple platforms, “Minecraft” is one of the most popular video games in history, with more than 100 million downloads, on PC alone, by players since its launch in 2009. “Minecraft” is one of the top PC games of all time, the most popular online game on Xbox, and the top paid app for iOS and Android in the US. The “Minecraft” community is among the most active and passionate in the industry, with more than 2 billion hours played on Xbox 360 alone in the past two years. Minecraft fans are loyal, with nearly 90 percent of paid customers on the PC having signed in within the past 12 months.

 

Microsoft plans to continue to make “Minecraft” available across all the platforms on which it is available today: PC, iOS, Android, Xbox and PlayStation.

$2.5 BILLION is a lot of cheddar for ostensibly one game.

Hot on the heels of the official announcement is another, more somber one. Notch is leaving the company. Notch wrote on his personal blog:

I don’t see myself as a real game developer. I make games because it’s fun, and because I love games and I love to program, but I don’t make games with the intention of them becoming huge hits, and I don’t try to change the world. Minecraft certainly became a huge hit, and people are telling me it’s changed games. I never meant for it to do either. It’s certainly flattering, and to gradually get thrust into some kind of public spotlight is interesting.

[…]

As soon as this deal is finalized, I will leave Mojang and go back to doing Ludum Dares and small web experiments. If I ever accidentally make something that seems to gain traction, I’ll probably abandon it immediately.

 

Considering the public image of me already is a bit skewed, I don’t expect to get away from negative comments by doing this, but at least now I won’t feel a responsibility to read them.

The foreseeable future Minecraft doesn’t appear to be going anywhere, and with Microsoft in control you can bet your god damned ass you are going to be seeing much more of it. Minecraft movie? TV show? Minecraft in my Halo?

What are your thoughts on this acquisition?

Geekscape Mobile: Mojang’s ‘Scrolls’ Is Headed to iPad!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: Mojang’s lesser know, but still awesome Scrolls (which launched for PC/Mac/Linux back in May 2013), is headed to iPad.

In a Mojang blog post focussed on “what’s next for Scrolls”, the developer stated the following:

It’s been a while since the last update on Scrolls development, so here’s a handy post on that very subject. Read and learn, honourable Scrolldier.

A new ranking system

We’re working on a new system that will express ranks in a more palatable format. Check above some some visual spoilers from Henrik.

Also, Jeb (yes – the friendly Minecraft guy, who just happens to be one of the most ardent Scrolls players in the office) has been helping develop ways to reward both hyper-competitive and lower ranked scrolldiers for their dedication. The plan is to integrate some kind of weekly reward system.

 
A new tutorial

We’re aware that Scrolls can be intimidating for beginners. To combat this, we’re replacing our existing tutorial with two snappier ones that’ll teach basic mechanics within a few minutes play.

 
Audio and visual tweaks

Mattis returned from his Japanese vacation inspired and livelier than ever: “I want to juice up Scrolls, yo!” But what does this actually mean? It means that Mattis is looking into ways to make the core gameplay of Scrolls more rewarding. Powerful attacks should have more oomph, and enchantments should be more visually striking.

Similarly, Aron has been working on improving Scrolls’ sound systems. This means we can add new audio effects to units, spells and enchantments.

 
The demo version

The team are also working on a demo version of Scrolls. It won’t affect how existing Scrolldiers play, but will provide a slice of Scrolls gameplay for the curious. It’ll also make things a lot simpler for… you guessed it…

 
The tablet version

An iPad/tablet version of Scrolls is in the works! We’ve enlisted the aid of Ludosity to port Scrolls into flatter, more touchy devices. We’ll have more news on this soon.

The game is addicting, a ton of fun, and with a port coming from the developer of Card City Nights, the world of Scrolls will soon expand in a good way.

Are you already playing? Will you be checking out the tablet version? Sound out below!

Watch The Launch Trailer For Mojang’s ‘Scrolls’

by Derek Kraneveldt

I’ve dabbled in Minecraft for years, and I’ve certainly heard of Scrolls, but had no idea what the incredible folks over at Mojang had in store for us until watching the game’s launch trailer.

Scrolls combines elements of board games, trading card games, and of course, video games, into a solo or online experience that I’ve been dreaming of for years, but which has never actually existed.

Just as they did with Minecraft, Scrolls will first launch as a beta on June 3rd, and anyone who has pre-purchased the game will get access to the beta, and every subsequent version until the final release. It’s a great sales strategy, and one that has obviously worked for Mojang in the past, so it’s no surprise that they’ve taken the same route with Scrolls.

Watch the launch trailer below, and get your wallet ready. You can pre-purchase the game here!

Mojang’s New Game ‘Scrolls’ Gameplay Trailer Released

by Shane O'Hare

Mojang, the little developer who brought us the JUGGERNAUT Minecraft, has released a gameplay trailer for their next game Scrolls along with an official website.

We finally have some solid footage and info to make our decisions on. The press release on the site gives more info on their Alpha test.

 

We are rapidly approaching the closed alpha of Scrolls. Although this alpha version will be far from a feature complete version of the game, it will include multiplayer matches, single player matches vs AI and the Deck Builder, where you can build your decks out of the 100+ scrolls that currently exist in the game.

As we get closer to a stable build, we will stop the closed alpha, and move to an open beta, where you will be able to buy the game at a reduced price and with some added benefits (more about that later).

At that point, we will also look to include the single player world, where you can explore and do battle to earn new scrolls to your collection.

Keep in mind, that the beta will not be feature complete. We will still have a big bag of goodies that we plan to include over time, such as an auction house where you may buy or sell scrolls from each other and additional features in the world such as character customization, items, quests and so on. If you’re wondering why we would release a game that’s obviously not finished, the reason is simple: We want your feedback in good time to help us shape Scrolls to be the next big online Collectible Card Game!

So if you’re curious enough to pick up a copy of the game, please don’t be shy. Hit the forums and help us out!

Check out more on the game on their official site HERE. Be careful though, you might get this and Skyrim confused.

Humble Indie Bundle V Breaks The $5 MILLION Mark!

by Shane O'Hare

The numbers from the “pay what you want”/”donation drive”, Humble Indie Bundle V, were announced today. Previous records of just over $2.1 Million have been SHATTERED.

With 598,977 individual bundles purchased, the organization raised $5,106,739.08, which goes to support Childs Play and The Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Let’s take a look at a breakdown of the numbers.

There was somewhat of a “donation war” going on between Minecraft creator Notch and a group called The Humble Brony Bundle. The Humble Bronies are a group of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic fans who bundled their collective funds and bought copies of the HIB5 in the name of friendship.

This years bundle included, DRM-Free: Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Bastion, Limbo, Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, Psychonauts, Lone Survivor, Super Meat Boy, and Braid. If you paid more than the average purchase, you got them all PLUS their soundtracks!

So it is apparent gamers can do something other than talk about banging each others moms.