Bobby Kotick On Activision Almost Buying Minecraft And Why It Didn't Happen

Eddie Makuch
11/13/2025

Microsoft bought Minecraft and developer Mojang in 2014 for $2.5 billion, but the Xbox company was not the only group to make an offer for the sandbox series. It was reported years ago that Activision (as well as EA) was also in the mix to buy Minecraft, and now former executive Bobby Kotick has discussed the bid process and what ultimately kept the deal from coming together. Appearing on billionaire Ari Emanuel's podcast, Kotick said of Minecraft, "I almost bought it."He added: "I had to spend five days in Stockholm with [Markus 'Notch' Persson], the guy who founded the company. 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."Continue Reading at GameSpot...

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