Microsoft to buy ‘Minecraft’ maker for $2.5 billion

Microsoft to buy ‘Minecraft’ maker for $2.5 billion

NEW YORK

Microsoft will acquire the maker of the long-running hit game “Minecraft” for $2.5 billion as the company continues to invest in its Xbox gaming platform and looks to grab attention on mobile phones.

The technology company said it will buy Stockholm-based game maker Mojang in a deal expected to close late this year.

“Minecraft,” which lets users build in and explore a Lego-like virtual multiplayer world, has been downloaded 100 million times on PC alone since its launch in 2009. It is the most popular online game on Xbox, and the top paid app for Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating system in the U.S.

Microsoft said it will continue to make “Minecraft” available across all the platforms on which it is available today: PC, iOS, Android, Xbox and PlayStation.

Microsoft expects the acquisition to be break-even in fiscal 2015.

Olive Garden answers criticism from hedge fund

NEW YORK

Olive Garden is defending its practice of giving customers as many breadsticks as they want, saying the policy conveys “Italian generosity.”

The remark is part of a response by the chain’s parent company, Darden Restaurants Inc., to a nearly 300-page criticism released by hedge fund Starboard Value last week. Starboard took Olive Garden and its management to task for a litany of issues, including its liberal distribution of breadsticks, its failure to salt the water used to boil its pasta and even the length of the asparagus it serves.

Darden’s 24-page response doesn’t specifically address each of Starboard’s criticisms, but states that the company already is implementing a variety of strategies to improve Olive Garden’s performance. The company says it has introduced new menu items to underscore value, for instance, and is testing ordering technologies using table-top tablets.

Starboard is lobbying to gain control of Darden’s board of directors at the company’s annual meeting Oct. 10.

Court: Tesla Motors can sell directly to consumers

BOSTON

The highest court in Massachusetts has thrown out a lawsuit aimed at blocking Tesla Motors from selling its electric cars directly to consumers.

The Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association had sought to prevent the direct sales, citing a state law designed to block car dealers from abuses by car manufacturers.

The Supreme Judicial Court unanimously ruled Monday that the association and two dealers — Herb Connolly Chevrolet and Fisker Norwood — didn’t have legal standing to bring the case.

The court said Natick has since given Tesla a license to operate a sales office at the Natick Mall.

Associated Press