Microsoft Wants to Use Minecraft as a Development Tool For Next Generation of Users

Microsoft broke out the check book when it decided to pay $2.5 billion for Mojang, developer behind the extremely popular title Minecraft, but it left many people wondering why the studio would want to do that.

Beyond the potential of just creating video games, there is something more to Microsoft’s strategy: trying to inspire the next-generation of business users at a young age.

Here is what Jeff Teper, Microsoft Corporate VP of Corporate Strategy, recently said at the UBS Global Technology Conference:

“Minecraft is a development tool. People build worlds out of it. IF we can get eight-year-old girls and boys building worlds and getting inspired by creating content digitally, as they grow up they’ll want to create in PowerPoint, or Visual Studio. And in addition to being one of the few gaming franchises that doesn’t have to be freemium, Minecraft can actually charge money. It turns out it’s a great business with lots of upside.”

It would make sense – at a time when people enjoy buying the latest and greatest generation of electronics – trying to recruit people into some of these fields can be difficult. Even more complicated, trying to ensure newer generations of future business people want to use software – whether for work or play – to enjoy their software experience.

(Image courtesy of Independent)