Microsoft Puts Minecraft Boss In Charge of Xbox Games (theverge.com) 50
Microsoft is promoting its Minecraft boss to the head of the company's games studios. "Matt Booty's new role sees him oversee Microsoft Studios, second only to Microsoft's games chief Phil Spencer," reports The Verge. "Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella previously promoted Phil Spencer from head of Xbox to a new role overseeing all games, associated hardware, and game strategy." From the report: Spencer reports directly to Nadella, with Booty now reporting directly to Spencer. GamesBeat reports that Booty's new role will see Microsoft devoting more resources to its games business. Booty will be looking after Microsoft's relationships with 343 Industries, The Coalition, Mojang, Rare, Turn 10 Studios, and Global Publishing. Booty first joined Microsoft back in 2010, and helped launch games for Windows phones. He's also helped develop Xbox Live Arcade, and oversaw Minecraft maker Mojang after Microsoft acquired the company for $2.5 billion back in 2014.
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But which boss is it? The Wither or the Ender Dragon?
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Perhaps he'll be replaced by a team of three Elder Guardians.
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They say people often unconsciously pick careers that match their names (even loosely - there are more dentists named Dennis that you might expect, say). Obviously, this guy had a choice of going into piracy or video games. It's just destiny.
Where the booty at? (Score:2)
I guess the booty at Microsoft these days.
Minecraft boss (Score:2)
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Wither
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Herobrine.
Get On It (Score:2)
First order of business... get Platinum Games to un-cancel Scalebound. Next, contract a new Fable title, ideally dark fantasy this time (more Brothers Grimm rather than Dark Souls, though.)
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Next, contract a new Fable title
Sure, why not?
https://www.gamespot.com/artic... [gamespot.com]
huh? (Score:5, Funny)
I didn't think that having written some little find-the-bomb puzzle game in the late eighties would qualify one for modern gaming unless he'd kept with the progress of game development over the last thirty years.
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I didn't think that having written some little find-the-bomb puzzle game in the late eighties would qualify one for modern gaming unless he'd kept with the progress of game development over the last thirty years.
Word.
I kept hearing for YEARS how popular Minecraft was before I realized people were not, actually talking about Mine Sweeper!!
It has to be said... (Score:5, Funny)
"Spencer reports directly to Nadella, with Booty now reporting directly to Spencer."
There has always been a place for Booty in e-games. I think it's described in detail in Rule 34.
TIL (Score:5, Insightful)
I didn't know Minecraft had a boss. I mean buying something for a fortune, then doing nothing with it other than failing to get it into schools as some form of education didn't seem like something worthy of needing a boss to oversee, much less praise that boss enough to promote their failure.
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Minecraft has several modules in the code.org website targeting elementary age kids
Exactly. Thowing something out, slapping an educational label on it, and calling it a day does not make something a success, much less promotion worthy. Just because a few kids have fun playing it doesn't mean their attempts have been incredibly lame.
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Minecraft is one of those big disappointments in life - so much potential, squandered until you just don't care anymore.
Minecraft has languished (Score:4, Interesting)
It's been years since Microsoft took over MC (fuck you, Notch, you lying sack of shit) and development has been even slower than before, and long-standing bugs have not been fixed. For example, placing half-slabs while lagged results in placing them where you physically could not place them, the net code is pure garbage, the game still punches your GPU in the nuts for no apparent reason (minetest uses like 10% of the GPU of MC for the same visual quality) and placing more than a couple dozen hoppers without capping them off with furnaces still lags the game to hell and back. They've done absolutely nothing to fix bugs, so that's vintage Microsoft, I guess.
If what has happened to MC under this tool's watch is any indication, Microsoft Games will go entirely down the toilet.
Re: Minecraft has languished (Score:1)
Why so bitter toward Notch if the game is being developed at the same rate and frustration level it was before he sold? Are you just jealous? I seem to recall all of /. lining up to declare they are jumping ship as soon as Microsoft Microsofted the game. Clearly in hindsight that never happened.
Re:Minecraft has languished (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:Minecraft has languished (Score:4, Insightful)
Notch isn't this Booty guy. Notch mostly tweets and swims through pools full of cash these days. Booty's main claim to fame is being placed in the driver seat of an already running money printing machine and not fucking it up by messing with the levels to much. Which I guess counts as top tier leadership at Microsoft these days based on how many of their other acquisitions have worked out.
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That's why Notch got the promotion.
Notch sold Minecraft to Microsoft and left. The guy being promoted is (I guess) the guy Microsoft put in charge of the product after they bought it from Notch. But you're right, Minecraft has had continued success under Microsoft. However from a layman's view you might compare this to putting a guy on a train that is already moving at top speed, then later rewarding him for not fucking it up.
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You know how freaking hard that is?
Usually someone comes in and wants to dabble with this and that to "put their mark on it" and that leads to all sorts of crap going on and changes for the worse.
To h ave someone able to put all that aside and let things run is quite unnatural. SO yes, the fact it isn't all screwed up by now is amazing. The fact
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It's been years since Microsoft took over MC (fuck you, Notch, you lying sack of shit)
No, fuck you. Do you think you could turn down a billion dollars? He made the right choice too.
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Buying Minecraft was about the most idiotic thing anyone could do. No, I don't mean buying a license to play it, I mean buying it, hoping that you can somehow "monetize the IP".
One of the key features, one of the things that makes Minecraft the success that it is, is how easy it is to mod the shit out of it. Let's face it, there are plenty of Minecraft-y games out by now. Most of them some flavor of zombie survival game, but some actually just Minecraft with better graphics or enhanced bells and whistles. W
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What does 'mod support' have to do with monetizing the Minecraft brand? I'd opine that the vast majority of Minecraft income is coming from merchandising.
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Let's face it, there are plenty of Minecraft-y games out by now. Most of them some flavor of zombie survival game, but some actually just Minecraft with better graphics or enhanced bells and whistles. Why they don't get as successful? Mods. Or the lack thereof.
Nonsense. There are piles of mods for some of the workalikes, like minetest. Minetest also abuses your GPU much less, although it does use slightly more CPU. Still, not so much that it's not playable on an atom netbook, which you can't do with minecraft at all these days. The GPU won't handle it. The reason none of them have taken off is that all the players are playing minecraft. People want to play with other people, and minecraft has already got the players. They're not going to switch.
Games for Windows Phones (Score:1)
Oh yeah! I remember all those hit games on my Windows phone... err... actually, no, I don't.
Booty should run for president (Score:2)
Micro transactions and paid skins for all (Score:2)
Sounds like they put someone in charge who knows how licensing deals and monetization of existing properties works.