Former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said that the company was close to buying Mojang in 2014, but the deal eventually went to Microsoft. In the Rushmore podcast, Kotick discussed games with Elon Musk. Speaking about Minecraft, he noted: "Yes, I almost bought it."
According to Kotick, he spent five days in Stockholm with Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson. Activision offered $1.5 billion, but then Persson announced that he was leaving the company, and with him, all key management was resigning. At that time, there were only 30 employees in the studio.
Kotick told him that he would not be able to manage Mojang under such conditions. After that, Persson called back and said: "Microsoft offered me $2.5 billion." Kotick replied: "Yes, I will go with you to buy plane tickets, but you must accept this offer."
Speaking about who at Microsoft approved the deal, Kotick pointed to Phil Spencer and Matt Booty. Microsoft completed the acquisition of Mojang on September 15, 2014. Forbes previously reported that EA and Activision showed interest in the deal, which confirms Kotick's words.
