They paid 2bn for Minecraft, not sure if 367m is just software sales or merchandising as well but the merchandise is everywhere here in the UK and it seems to sell well.
The merchandising is awesome too. I see kids with creeper backpacks and I wish I had things like that when I was that age.
Not sure when or where you grew up, but at least in US in the 80s and 90s there were tons of television and video-game branded merchandise...
In the 80s and 90s, it tended to be the opposite, though: tons of merchandise for which "advertising" television shows were created (things that come to mind are GI Joe, M.A.S.K. ...).
It's a tax dodge, is what it is. Mojang is based in Sweden, so Microsoft could buy it with the big hoard of foreign cash they're avoiding repatriating to avoid paying tax on it a second time. Then, all the domestic sales of Minecraft are money that's on American shores already.
And they'll pay tax on the profit of those US sales... It's not a dodge.
Re:Minecraft sales top 100M
by whamlastxmas on Friday June 03, 2016 @10:30AM
(#11830496)
The alternative is using that same money in the US to generate sales, meaning there is sales tax eventually on it anyway. It is still saving hundreds of millions in tax by not repatriating it.
Is that really a lot? How much more do they need to sell to get their money back from what they spent to buy Minecraft in the first place?