When the prospect of purchasing Minecraft (one of the most prolific game’s of the 2010’s) was first pitched by Xbox Boss Phil Spencer, he was actually turned down.
Revealed in Microsoft boss’ Satya Nadella’s new book, Hit Refresh, the person who declined Spencer’s suggestion was likely Don Mattrick who later left the Xbox team to join Zynga. Spencer, however, had his eye on the prize and keep persisting, propositioning Nadella.
He was more open to the idea and Nadella writes:
“For some, such a visible, high-level rejection could have been withering, but Phil didn’t give up.”
Interestingly enough, Bill Gates himself wasn’t such a fan of the idea who first appeared on board and later retracted his opinion.
“Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, who were still on the board when the deal was presented, later laughed and said they had initially scratched their heads, failing to understand the wisdom of the move.”
In the end, Microsoft bought Minecraft from Swedish developer Mojang for $2.5 billion. But if the team had jumped on board earlier, there no saying how much could’ve been saved.
(via Yahoo Finance)