Although Microsoft bought both Mojang and his sandbox game Mining craft back in 2014 for a whopping $2.5 billion, the company wasn't the only one considering buying it – Activision Blizzard was also close to buying them.
The same thing was said ten years ago, when reports appeared about Activision BlizzardThe company's (and EA's) interest in buying Minecraft has been circulating online, but now former CEO Bobby Kotick has confirmed that it is was indeed, one of his thoughts many years ago. “I almost bought it,” he admits in recent podcast with Ari Emanuel and Elon Musk (Thanks, GameSpot). However, he not only thought about it – he actually proposed.
“I got to spend five days in Stockholm with the guy who started 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 leaving, and all my senior executives are leaving.' And their company had only 30 employees… Like, we can’t manage your company.” After the meeting and discussion of the proposal, Notch called Kotik to talk about Microsoft's own proposal.
Ladies and gentlemen, Episode 7, Video Games. @elonmusk and @BobbyKotick join Ari and Ben to find out what the 4 best video games of all time are. A VERY deep dive into one of the world's greatest entertainments in today's episode. WHAT ARE THEY CORRECT? pic.twitter.com/1st9P9udDqNovember 11, 2025
Xbox wanted to buy Minecraft and subsequently Mojangfor $2.5 billion, a price that was probably too high for Activision Blizzard. “I said, ‘I’ll go shopping with you on the plane, but you have to accept this offer,’” Kotick recalls.
Phil Spencer, who is the CEO of Microsoft Gaming, eventually struck a deal to acquire Mojang and Minecraft for the $2.5 billion offered to Notch. Minecraft has been a Microsoft game for over 10 years.
The cat praises Xbox Game Studios also led by Matt Booty, saying 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 sense, it could be argued that Minecraft somehow ended up being connected to Activision Blizzard thanks to Xbox deal with Activision This was finalized in 2023 after nearly two years of legal battles.
As for Kotick himself, he left Activision Blizzard shortly after, having spent 32 years with the company – three decades during which the merger of Activision and Blizzard took place, as well as various other changes that forever changed the course of the history of the gaming industry.
