Microsoft's rumoured $2.5bn Minecraft gobble expected on Monday

Mojang rising to Redmond?

Microsoft is reportedly planning to spend $2.5bn on the rumoured buyout of Minecraft maker Mojang, with a deal speculatively set for Monday.

As The Register noted earlier this week, such an acquisition would be the first big payout for new Redmond chief Satya Nadella.

Reuters reported that Microsoft would scoop up the game company for roughly $2.5bn tomorrow, citing a secret source who had been briefed on the plans.

Five-year-old Minecraft first appeared as a PC game, but - while it is now a very popular app on Apple's iOS - it has not been developed for Microsoft's Windows Phone, which perhaps goes some way to explaining the strategy behind this rumoured takeover. ®