Microsoft is in serious acquisition talks with popular “Minecraft” video game maker Mojang AB, claims a new report.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, citing a person with knowledge of the matter, the deal, valued at more than $2 billion, could be signed as early as this week.
Since its 2009 release, the popular Minecraft game, which lets players build structures using individual blocks, has sold over 50 million copies across all hardware platforms including Microsoft’s Windows and Xbox 360, Sony’s PlayStation 3, Apple’s Mac and mobile platforms like Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. However, the popular construction game is not currently available on Microsoft’s Windows Phone.
It was the second best-selling game in terms of physical retail copies sold in July for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, just behind Sony’s “The Last of Us.”
The popular block-building game earned Mojang over $100 million in profits last year as the game and subsequent merchandise proved to be quite popular with youngsters.
It is expected that Microsoft could use the acquisition to boost its Xbox video game business to survive the intense video game market competition. The software giant revealed in April it had shipped 5 million Xbox One units to retailers worldwide since the launch as compared to rival Sony Corp which sold more than 7 million PlayStation 4 units in the same month.
However, Microsoft and Mojang have declined to comment on the report.
