[size=150%]Mod Edit: Mojang has confirmed that they are being purchased by Microsoft for $2.5 Billion, you can read more about it here: https://mojang.com/2014/09/yes-were-being-bought-by-microsoft/[/size]

[size=150%]Mod Edit 2: To keep it all in one place, please discuss the Microsoft-Mojang deal here.[/size]

There isn't much news on this yet, as right now it is just an empty claim. But apparently someone who knows about the deal stated that Microsoft is offering Mojang 2 Billion Dollars for the rights to Minecraft.

Now, since there is not much news to this and it has NOT been confirmed, please keep the replies civil, here are the news sources that are already reporting it, saying it is "developing the story further" I will add more news sources as they appear.

CNBC:http://www.cnbc.com/id/101975715

WALL STREET JOURNAL: http://online.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-near-deal-to-buy-minecraft-1410300213?mod=wsj_nview_latest

IMAGE FROM WALL STREET JOURNAL WITH MORE INFO http://i.imgur.com/dYSiNTF.jpg

And if we could actually be mature about this and not go hysterical with jokes about what Microsoft would do with Minecraft in it's hands that would be great. Thanks.

I guess I should clarify since people keep doing it, DO NOT POST HERE SAYING THINGS LIKE "Omg microsoft will add a membership payment" or "we will have to pay for multiplayer" These are over the top predictions that will never happen.

Thanks to Woody for this great summarization of why Microsoft won't add Pay to Play stuff, so PLEASE stop posting about it below.

"Microsoft isn't stupid...
They're investing $2 Billion into this.
I don't think you really understand how much that is until you type it out.

Before you post your next comment saying how "Microsoft will ruin Mojang", how about you type out $2,000,000,000. I'm a pretty fast typer. I type just over 90 words per minute. $2,000,000,000 takes me quite long to type compared to other numbers.

They're investing $2,000,000,000 into the transaction. Microsoft isn't stupid. They're not going to buy something for $2,000,000,000 just to ruin it. They're not going to drop PS3, PS4, iOS, etc versions of Minecraft, because they will lose profit. They're not going to do bad things to it, because they'll lose profit.
You see where I'm going with this?
Microsoft is taking $2,000,000,000 out of their pockets, because they know they have the potential to turn it around, and make tens of billions.

Think of it this way. You own a car dealership. You don't like Bugatti Veyrons. Because of this, you want to spend $2,000,000,000 on the rights to the Bugatti Veyron Patent. You "modify" it, and release the car design to the public, without anyone looking at it beforehand. Everyone hates it, so nobody buys it. You just spent $2,000,000,000 to just get rid of some competition. And to make losing $2,000,000,000 worse, you're not going to get anything back.

This isn't what Microsoft is doing. Microsoft is going to improve the game. After adding stuff, they're going to get many people to review it first, and if there's bad feedback, they're going to redo the updates. They're not going to blindly release updates, which could potentially ruin something they spent $2,000,000,000 on.

If anything changes, it's going to be good things. If anything, Minecraft is going to get better from Microsoft buying it.
They're not going to add Micro-transactions, because if the game gets bad reviews, then they will lose profits. That's what this whole thing is all about."
.

Moderators if I could request something, I can see there being a bunch of threads quickly typed up as soon as people hear about this, if you could please don't lock this as long as there isn't another one with more viable information (unless it gets too off topic of course), I'm trying to keep this up to date as much as I can without going overboard on these empty claims. Thanks