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Microsoft has acquired Minecraft developer Mojang for $2.5 billion.
The deal will see all the rights to the popular Minecraft franchise transfer over to Microsoft. It is understood the game will still be made available for non-MS platforms, such as PS4 and iOS.
Founders Markus Persson, Carl Manneh and Jakob Porser will leave following completion of the deal.
The studio said however that the vast majority of the team will likely stay for the time-being.
According to a statement, Persson had decided he did not want the responsibility of owning a company of "such global significance", and the success of Minecraft had "become too much for him to handle".
It is not yet known what the acquisition will mean for other Mojang projects, such as Scrolls. The studio has said it will share any news as soon as it can.
"Minecraft has grown from a simple game to a project of monumental significance. Though we’re massively proud of what Minecraft has become, it was never Notch’s intention for it to get this big," read a statement on the Mojang website.
"As you might already know, Notch is the creator of Minecraft and the majority shareholder at Mojang. He’s decided that he doesn’t want the responsibility of owning a company of such global significance. Over the past few years he’s made attempts to work on smaller projects, but the pressure of owning Minecraft became too much for him to handle. The only option was to sell Mojang. He’ll continue to do cool stuff though. Don’t worry about that.
"There are only a handful of potential buyers with the resources to grow Minecraft on a scale that it deserves. We’ve worked closely with Microsoft since 2012, and have been impressed by their continued dedication to our game and its development. We’re confident that Minecraft will continue to grow in an awesome way.
"Minecraft means many different things to millions of people across the world, and to each and every Mojangsta. We feel that this is the best way for everyone – you guys included – to benefit."
