U.S. tech giant Microsoft will acquire the maker of the popular online video game Minecraft in a deal worth reported 2.5 billion dollars. Microsoft’s acquisition of Stockholm-based Mojang is expected to close by the end of 2014. CCTV America’s Chris Casquejo reports.

Minecraft is a game that allows players to build and explore a ‘Lego’-like virtual world.

Since the game’s launch in 2009, it has sold more than 50 million copies on PCs alone, and is the most popular online, multiplayer game on Xbox, and the top paid app for Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android mobile operating systems in the U.S.

Minecraft already is the third bestselling computer game of all time, spawning a cottage industry of YouTube tutorials, educational versions, and even a licensing deal with Lego.

Some analysts believe the acquisition is a good fit for Microsoft. Mojang’s co-founder Markus Persson posted this blog entry breaking the news to gamers. He and the other founders are not joining Microsoft when the deal closes.

Chris Morris joins the show. He is the contributing writer to CNBC and Yahoo Tech.