Minecraft Creator on Microsoft Deal: It’s all about My Sanity’

Minecraft creator on Microsoft deal: “It’s about my sanity’

After it was announced that Microsoft was buying Minecraft developer Mojang for $2.5bn (PS1.5bn) The Swedish developer behind the title Markus Persson – known as Notch published his own personal statement regarding the deal. Below is the entire statement.

Mojang is leaving me.

I don’t think of myself as a true game developer. I create games for fun, and because I love games and I love to program however, I don’t design games with the aim of them becoming huge hit and I don’t attempt to change the world.

Minecraft was a huge success. People say it has changed their lives. It didn’t happen by accidental. It’s flattering, and it’s fascinating to slowly be in the spotlight.

It was quite a while back that I decided to quit Minecraft development. Jens was the ideal person to take over the helm of it, and I was keen to experiment with things that were completely new. While I tried to grow it initially, I was unsuccessful. However, since I chose to stick to small prototypes, intriguing problems have been solved, and I’ve had so much fun with my work.

I wasn’t exactly sure how I would fit in Mojang where people did actual work, but when people said I was essential to the culture, I decided to stay.

A few weeks ago, I was suffering from a terrible cold at home, and the internet went wild with hate about me for a EULA situation that I did not have. I was confused. I didn’t understand. I posted this frustration on Twitter.

Then I looked at the This is Phil Fish YouTube video and realized that I didn’t feel as connected I thought I did with my fans. I’ve become an image. I don’t want to be an object of ridicule. I don’t want be accountable for something I don’t know about. That I don’t want to tackle. I’m not an entrepreneur. I’m not a chief executive officer. I’m a geeky computer programmer who enjoys sharing opinions on Twitter.

Once the deal is concluded, I will leave Mojang and go back to doing Ludum Dares as well as small web-based experiments. If I make an error and it gains traction, I will probably abandon the project immediately.

Given that my public image already is a bit skewed I don’t think I’ll get away from negative feedback through this however, at least for now I won’t feel a responsibility to read them.

I’m aware that this is in contradiction to a lot of what I’ve spoken about in public. I’m not sure of a response to this. I also know that a lot of you have used me as a symbol to represent an apparent struggle. I’m not. I’m a person, and I’m right there struggling with you.

I love you. Every one of you. Thank you for making Minecraft what it is today. There are just too many of us and I cannot be responsible for something as large as Minecraft. Minecraft servers It is Microsoft’s property now in a certain sense. In a more broad sense, it’s been owned by everyone for a long period of time and that’s not going to change.

It’s not about money. It’s about my sanity.