What do you think Microsoft will do with Minecraft?

I'd like to clear up some information as I'm the first post. Microsoft bought Mojang (not minecraft) for $2.5billion. Notch isn't staying, as he said he just wanted to work on smaller projects, and minecraft put too much pressure on him.

Anyway...

Well, there are a few possibilities of what they might do with it. The first, and what I really want to happen, is that they will be able to make the game a lot better, because they have a lot more in resources than Mojang ever used to have, and they'll listen to the community and make the game a lot better.

The other possibilities are obviously less good.

They might stop all development on the game. They might start minecraft 2.0 as a new game, and make everyone buy it again. They might stop developing the PS4 version. They might do a lot of things, but that's less likely. Microsoft wasn't just buying the game, they're buying the market of young children, as right now the only other company really working in that area is nintendo.

 

Hopefully not screw it up or shift the focus to xBox....if they did that they'd get twice the money though so....they might be planning to.

I hope they either get it off java or make it more efficient and clean up the coding, as well as making that mod API .

 

I hope they make the game better for all the right reasons. Seeing that Microsoft knows what they're doing they would probably not screw this one up because the game has a lot on it's back right now and one wrong move from Microsoft and all that will fall.

 

Microsoft is probably aware of the potential the Minecraft has aside from the huge fanbase that it developped over the last few years. I think they will realise this and carry the minecraft series forward. I would love to see a Minecraft HD and maybe getting off the java powered graphics, sure it might be more taxing on graphic cards but nowadays that is not such a worrying factor.

 

I think that if MS is smart they should keep the game multiplatforms. There are way too many people playing Minecraft across all platforms. I can't imagine the backlash if MS decide to cut support for the other platforms.

 

Well, it is hard to predict what Microsoft will do with Minecraft in the future. It would be awesome if they simply let Mojang develop it further. That probably won't happen, since Microsoft definitely has plans for the game. They might try to get a lot of money off it, which, in the worse case scenario, would mean premium content, that would have to be bought. Certain modpacks could be sold as add-ons, certain items could only be bought.

 

Well, I'm fine with whatever they do with minecraft. However, if they add one single micro transaction, Minecraft will be going down the drain, I mean, it already costs $26 (Unless they plan on making it for free) why should we pay even more for a game we already own.

 

I am very uneasy about Microsoft's purchase of Mojang and the departure of the founder. I have heard some people say that Notch was a programmer first and a businessman second, and that him no longer being in charge will lead to improved development of Minecraft, but I am unsure. In many ways, Notch's benign negligence allowed his creation to run wild and be taken in a wide range of directions by a devoted fanbase.

Here are my fears:

1. Microsoft will take resources from or stop development on certain platforms in favor of the Xbox.
2. They will will abandon the free update model and make players pay for DLC.
3. Modding beyond 1.8 will be forbidden ruining the modding community.
4. 3rd party servers will be disallowed so that only Realm servers are available for multiplayer.
5. Development of the current Minecraft will be abandoned for development of Minecraft 2 which we will all have to purchase.
6. Last, but not least, the game will be taken in a new direction that Microsoft feels will appeal to the MMO crowd more thus stealing the simplistic charm and feel that we all love.

 

I honestly have no idea what they want with Minecraft, especially since Notch left, Minecraft will lose a lot of appeal if they start making some wild changes.

 

I'm hoping for better mod support and more regular content and updates.

 

The are going to try to make it more mainstream than it already is. I mean, you have got millions of people playing this game already, but we all know it's Microsoft.

 

The thing with only allowing realm servers, is that this would probably kill the game more than not allowing mods. Realm servers are great for people to have with their friends, but most people don't just play with their friends. I run a public server, and I play on minigames servers sometimes, and both of those things couldn't happen if servers were limited to me and a few friends.

 

Microsoft could royally screw up with Minecraft, as they may not have the same ideologies as Notch. That being said, Microsoft has much more resources than Notch, which is a great pro. The first thing to come will probably be improvements. I can see Microsoft bringing a lot of changes to solve performance issues, bugs, and graphical artifacts. Then, it will probably turn to its fan base to add new features actually relating to the game.

I can also see Microsoft making Minecraft an exclusive, by making it only available for PC and XB, leaving the PS family out. Just a hunch though.

 

True that. I guess I was envisioning Microsoft expanding Realms into something that can handle more traffic in order to cut out third party servers.

 

I have the same fears, but I think they will likely recode the whole thing, possibly in another language, because they have the resources and it will make it easier for them to update in the future so my concerns with that are whether or not there will be a mod API or not. Also, social features being put in there and shifting to xBox. Ugh don't we have enough places with "social features" sometimes you want to play a game without talking to others or having them know what you're up to. You know?

 

Honestly?
I don't know what they are going to do with the game, and that scares me because, considering how monitized the console versions are, I can't even begin to imagine what they might do to the PC version and is the PS4/PS3 version going to be discontinued now?