Minecraft was nearly sold to Activision Blizzard for $1.5 billion before Microsoft secured Mojang, says former CEO Bobby Kotick: "I almost bought it"

Although Microsoft bought both Mojang and its sandbox game Minecraft back in 2014 for a whopping $2.5 billion, the company wasn't the only one to consider the purchase – Activision Blizzard also got close to buying them. As much was speculated a decade ago, when reports of Activision Blizzard's (and EA's, too) interest in buying Minecraft were circulating around the web – but now, former CEO Bobby Kotick has confirmed that it was indeed one of his considerations years back. "I almost bought it," he admits in a recent podcast with Ari Emanuel and Elon Musk (thanks, GameSpot). He didn't only think about it, however – he actually made an offer. "I had to spend five days in Stockholm with the guy who founded the company," he explains, referring to Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson. "We offered him $1.5 billion – and he said, 'By the way, I'm quitting, and my top leadership guys are all quitting.' And they only had 30 employees at the company… Like, we can't run your company." After meeting and discussing the offer, Notch called Kotick to reveal Microsoft's own proposal. The Xbox company wanted to purchase Minecraft and, subsequently, Mojang, for $2.5 billion – a price tag that was likely too high for Activision Blizzard. "I said, 'I'll go airplane shopping with you, but you gotta take that offer,'" Kotick recalls. Phil Spencer, who serves as the CEO of Microsoft Gaming, ultimately secured the deal to snag Mojang and Minecraft for the $2.5 billion proposed to Notch. Minecraft has now been a Microsoft game for over 10 years. Kotick praises Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty as well, stating that he's done "a really great job" overseeing Minecraft following Microsoft's acquisition of the beloved sandbox gem and the developer behind it. In a way, one could argue that Minecraft sort of did end up being related to Activision Blizzard somehow, thanks to the Xbox Activision deal that was finally solidified in 2023 after nearly two years of legal battles. As for Kotick himself, he left Activision Blizzard shortly after, following 32 years at the company – three decades that saw the Activision and Blizzard merge, as well as various other changes that altered the course of the gaming industry's history forever.