Will Microsoft Buy ‘Minecraft’ Developer Mojang? $2B Deal Could Be Reached

Microsoft might buy Mojang, the Swedish company that created the "Minecraft" video game, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The deal could be worth more than $2 billion and might be reached as early as this week.

Mohang CEO Carl Manneh declined to comment as did a Microsoft spokesman. It would be surprising if the deal went through since Mojang founder Markus Persson wrote in a blog post last June the company has turned down offers in the past, Kotaku.com reported.

“Mojang does not exist to make as much money as possible for the owners," Persson wrote. "As the majority shareholder, I'd know. Every time a big money making deal comes up that would make a lot of money, it's of course very tempting, but at the end of the day we choose to do what either makes the most sense for our products or the things that seem like fun for us at Mojang.”

If Microsoft bought “Minecraft,” it could help attract younger fans and reinvent the company’s 13-year-old videogame business, the Journal wrote. More than 50 million copies of “Minecraft” have been sold since Mojang released it in 2009. It earned more than $100 million in profits from the game and merchandise. The game is already available on Xbox, Sony Corp.’s Playstation, PCs and smartphones.

Part of the game’s attraction has to do with players being able to build just about anything. There are open-ended possibilities.

If acquired, it would be the first multibillion-dollar purchase in which Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been involved since he assumed the top job in February, the Journal said.

Follow me on Twitter @mariamzzarella