Would/could it happen?

[djnattyd]

Having just read that Microsoft have officially acquired Minecraft, I'm wondering if Squad would ever offer themselves up for/be open to takeover from say Ubi or EA if it meant that they would receive a cash injection to complete KSP and guaranteed oversight of future development of it?

Also, I'm interested to hear what the community thinks about indie devs becoming part of a big corporation and if they would continue to support Squad if such a thing happened.

*mods I wasn't sure where this would go as its both about and not about KSP. Please move it if necessary.

[r4pt0r]

If EA ever touches my ksp there will be blood

If this is breaking rule 2.2d, I apologize, it is meant in partial jest

Edited September 15, 2014 by r4pt0r

[choninja21]

Having just read that Microsoft have officially acquired Minecraft, I'm wondering if Squad would ever offer themselves up for/be open to takeover from say Ubi or EA if it meant that they would receive a cash injection to complete KSP and guaranteed oversight of future development of it?

Also, I'm interested to hear what the community thinks about indie devs becoming part of a big corporation and if they would continue to support Squad if such a thing happened.

*mods I wasn't sure where this would go as its both about and not about KSP. Please move it if necessary.

I have mixed feelings about all this. On one hand, it would be good for a indie dev of a game as popular as Minecraft as the acquisition would allow them access to more resources to fund more updates to their game or other projects. On the other hand, it could really suck for the fans if the big corporation makes changes to the game that are solely to increase revenue i.e. micro-transactions, console exclusivity, etc.

I hope the best for Minecraft and that MS won't screw it up too badly

Edited September 15, 2014 by choninja21

[blizzy78]

Everyone has their price.

[Red Iron Crown]

Could it happen? Absolutely.

Would it happen? Who knows? KSP doesn't have Minecraft's frightening popularity and likely never will, given its narrower appeal, so it's unlikely to see a gigadollar offer for it (sorry, Squad, if that was the master plan ). Though even a multimillion dollar offer might be appealing enough.

I hope KSP remains indie, the number of indie games that have been improved by being purchased by a megastudio is very, very small.

[EdFred]

I hope KSP remains indie, the number of indie games that have been improved by being purchased by a megastudio is very, very small.

Oh, it's not just games. Every independent company I've seen bought out by a larger company, immediately goes down the tubes. Why be streamlined when you can have 37 layers of management to approve whether or not office staff is to use blue or black ink for a company standard pen? And that doesn't even get into production areas.

[djnattyd]

Personally I feel it's a double edged sword. Big studios (especially Microsoft) have a huge supply of money that could pay for all sorts of things from staff to an entire new game and/or engine but at the same, they're notorious for cookie-cutter stuff. You only have to look at Activision and what has happened to Call Of Duty to see that they don't like to leave the box.

I'd love KSP to be up there with all the AAA games you see at E3 but I don't know how I'd feel if there was a massive Ubisoft logo plastered all over it.

[peadar1987]

2.5 billion? That's 25 years worth of Minecraft profits. Bad, bad business decision for Microsoft. Mojang must be laughing!

[Guest]

NO!

M$ destroys everything it touches.

EA is known to convert good games to dung too.

Actually, ANY publisher (except may be Steam) will demand, that KSP must be made "easer to play" for "general population".

[Liowen]

Be prepared for micro transaction in Minecraft once this has become official, and more than likely it will have less PC support as Microsofts efforts seem to be more focused on the Xbone. I hope that SQUAD would refrain from the greed aspect, but if the amount is high enough I wouldn't blame them either.

[Red Iron Crown]

NO!

M$ destroys everything it touches.

EA is known to convert good games to dung too.

Actually, ANY publisher (except may be Steam) will demand, that KSP must be made "easer to play" for "general population".

I know it's cool to hate on Microsoft, but they actually do make some good products and have done wonders for bringing computing to the mainstream.

Also, this.

[ratchet freak]

I could see squad selling a license for a console game (or developing it in house) with DLC attached

[Alshain]

Valve is the only publisher to buy an indie game/company and improve upon it. Most of their games were done that way, and they have massively succeeded at it.

Microsoft has a track record of destroying companies. Rare, Lionhead, Ensemble, might as well add Mojang to that list.

[Dizzle]

Ah, so it was MS that destroyed Lionhead? Great. I hate it when someone acquires a property and either makes it worse or never uses it again, like The Movies.

[Wanderfound]

I know it's cool to hate on Microsoft, but they actually do make some good products and have done wonders for bringing computing to the mainstream.

Also, this.

Microsoft was justifiably hateable twenty years ago, but these days they're substantially less evil than Google, Facebook or Apple. They're just a run-of-the-mill big tech company.

Also:

Facebook, Apple, and Google all got away with their monopolist power grabs because they don't have any 'S's in their names for critics to snarkily replace with '$'s.

[TimberWolffe]

I think Squad would rather keep development of it and have it their own way, because that means they can get down and dirty with the community and interact on an almost personal level, rather than spend all their time on development.

Either that or I just think Squad would rather not have it look like this:

[Guest]

2.5 billion? That's 25 years worth of Minecraft profits. Bad, bad business decision for Microsoft. Mojang must be laughing!

I hope you're not basing company value on profit so heavily.

A local semiconductor firm was purchased for around 300 years of it's manual REVENUE 6 months ago.

[TimberWolffe]

2.5 billion? That's 25 years worth of Minecraft profits. Bad, bad business decision for Microsoft. Mojang must be laughing!

>sidenote that the original code for microsoft was bought from a garage developer for the low low price of $2500, slightly renamed, then distributed as the first Microsoft OS.

[Franklin]

2.5 billion? That's 25 years worth of Minecraft profits. Bad, bad business decision for Microsoft. Mojang must be laughing!

Keep in mind Microsoft bought the developer, not the series rights. They bought Markus Persson himself, to a certain degree. And while a single title launch is a terrible data point to determine long-term valuation, they're hoping if he can pull off one iconic title, he can pull off another. Or at least a few sequels.

I would bet Microsoft has big plans to turn the Minecraft series into their The Sims. I mean the game sparked its own genre, from a third-party/engine licensing perspective alone it's worth a good drag, and they bought its developer.

I don't think Mojang's worth 2.5B, though. Have you seen Scrolls? I think he got a really, really good deal on a single title, knew it, and ran with it.

[djnattyd]

Microsoft has a track record of destroying companies. ...Lionhead...

Peter Molyneux destroyed Lionhead by promising features that he ultimately never delivered.

[peadar1987]

Keep in mind Microsoft bought the developer, not the series rights. They bought Markus Persson himself, to a certain degree. And while a single title launch is a terrible data point to determine long-term valuation, they're hoping if he can pull off one iconic title, he can pull off another. Or at least a few sequels.

I would bet Microsoft has big plans to turn the Minecraft series into their The Sims. I mean the game sparked its own genre, from a third-party/engine licensing perspective alone it's worth a good drag, and they bought its developer.

I don't think Mojang's worth 2.5B, though. Have you seen Scrolls? I think he got a really, really good deal on a single title, knew it, and ran with it.

Ah right, everything I've seen gave the impression that they'd just bought Minecraft, not Mojang. That makes a little more sense (although I'd still argue that they've paid well over the odds)

[Alshain]

Peter Molyneux destroyed Lionhead by promising features that he ultimately never delivered.

Right, so it's a complete coincidence that the last good game from Lionhead was just prior to the buyout.

[Guest]

Ah right, everything I've seen gave the impression that they'd just bought Minecraft, not Mojang. That makes a little more sense (although I'd still argue that they've paid well over the odds)

They've bought the company that's made arguably the most popular game ever made, along with some of the brains who made it what it is.

2.5 billion? Pretty cheap.

- - - Updated - - -

Right, so it's a complete coincidence that the last good game from Lionhead was just prior to the buyout.

peter defiantly had a part to play, he never answered his critics after release which he could have done.

[Franklin]

Ah right, everything I've seen gave the impression that they'd just bought Minecraft, not Mojang. That makes a little more sense (although I'd still argue that they've paid well over the odds)

I'd argue the same, yeah, and I'd argue Markus knew it as well. But in their defense I'd say Minecraft will expand and scale well as a series. It's a single, indie-developed title and it's already made Mojang 2B before Microsoft's aquisition. Every single kid plays it, entire online communities exist because of it, the game's crack and it's everywhere.

All Microsoft needs to do is launch a Minecraft 2 along with a hundred DLCs like The Sims and they'll make that 2.5B back without a sweat.

And from us old-timer's, "Minecraft's old news, what's Microsoft thinking?" perspective, Minecraft now has Microsoft's massive server backing. Imagine a Minecraft MMO.

[Guest]

I'd argue the same, yeah, and I'd argue Markus knew it as well. But in their defense I'd say Minecraft will expand and scale well as a series. It's a single, indie-developed title and it's already made Mojang 2B before Microsoft's aquisition. Every single kid plays it, entire online communities exist because of it, the game's crack and it's everywhere.

All Microsoft needs to do is launch a Minecraft 2 along with a hundred DLCs like The Sims and they'll make that 2.5B back without a sweat.

And from us old-timer's, "Minecraft's old news, what's Microsoft thinking?" perspective, Minecraft now has Microsoft's massive server backing. Imagine a Minecraft MMO.

Good points, and it's easy to think about minecraft being an 'old news' title. But every eight year old plays it; the game is simple, good graphics for all ages, pretty simple to run and CHEAPER THAN OTHER GAMES. There's going to be an endless supply of eight year olds too, and, of course, a million ways of expanding on the series.

*all eight-year-old-terms are in jest, but identify the main audience right now.