Heads up, Minecraft fans — the acquisition rumors were true.
Microsoft has purchased Mojang, maker of the massively popular sandbox building game, for $2.5 billion, the Swedish game developer announced on Monday. The company also announced that founders Markus "Notch" Persson, Carl Manneh, and Jakob Porser are leaving.
The news follows reports last week that Microsoft and Mojang were in "serious discussions" about a multibillion dollar acquisition.
"Change is scary, and this is a big change for all of us," the Mojang team wrote in a note on its website. "It's going to be good though. Everything is going to be OK."
The developer continued: "Please remember that the future of Minecraft and you — the community — are extremely important to everyone involved."
The acquisition is somewhat surprising given that Persson, who created Minecraft, has, in the past, avoided outside investment and derided big firms like Microsoft. But as Minecraft grew from a "simple game to a project of monumental significance," the pressure of owning it became too much for Persson to handle.
"Though we're massively proud of what Minecraft has become, it was never Notch's intention for it to get this big," Mojang wrote. "He's decided that he doesn't want the responsibility of owning a company of such global significance. The only option was to sell Mojang."
Persson echoed that in a personal blog post. "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," he wrote.
Ultimately, the success of Minecraft meant that Persson did not "have the connection to my fans I thought I had. I've become a symbol. I don't want to be a symbol, responsible for something huge that I don't understand, that I don't want to work on, that keeps coming back to me. I'm not an entrepreneur. I'm not a CEO. I'm a nerdy computer programmer who likes to have opinions on Twitter."
"It's not about the money. It's about my sanity," he concluded.
Mojang said the game will continue to evolve, but added that there are no specific plans just yet. "We do know that everyone involved wants the community to grow and become even more amazing than it's ever been," Mojang wrote. "Stopping players making cool stuff is not in anyone's interests."
The developer predicted that the "vast majority" of Mojang employees will continue working for the company, for the time being.
According to Microsoft, the Mojang team will join Microsoft Studios, which produces the Halo, Forza, and Fable franchises. Microsoft said its "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."
"Gaming is a top activity spanning devices, from PCs and consoles to tablets and mobile, with billions of hours spent each year," said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. "Minecraft is more than a great game franchise – it is an open world platform, driven by a vibrant community we care deeply about, and rich with new opportunities for that community and for Microsoft."
Minecraft is already available on Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation consoles, as well as PCs and smartphones — but not Windows Phone. Mojang said there is "no reason" to stop developing the game for multiple platforms, unless other companies pull the plug. Microsoft said it will continue to make Minecraft available on PC, iOS, Android, Xbox, and PlayStation.
"Microsoft can't make decisions for other companies or predict the choices that they might make in the future," Mojang wrote. "We're extremely proud of all editions and the awesome things you have achieved through playing together."
For more, see PCMag's review of Minecraft and the slideshow above. Also check out Minecraft: A Guide for 'Old' People.