14 DAY TRIAL // Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson has released an official statement concerning the recent sale of his own studio, Mojang, and his biggest hit, Minecraft, to Microsoft, thanking fans and promising to work on more small games.
Minecraft appeared way back in 2009 as a small project that was still in alpha stage made by a single man – Markus "Notch" Persson. The game quickly gained popularity thanks to its special mechanics and the fact that it was the best example of an independent title that was innovative and was sold directly by the person who made it.
After the initial success, Persson formed Mojang, a studio with his close friends, so that they could continue improving Minecraft on the PC. He also established partnerships with 4J Studios, to adapt the game for more platforms, as well as with Microsoft and Sony, to get Minecraft onto the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, and PS4 platforms.
Notch didn't intend for Minecraft to become so big
Now, after confirming that Microsoft is the owner of Mojang and Minecraft, Persson has issued a statement on his personal website, which quickly went down due to the surge in traffic. According to the data on PasteBin, he didn't intend for Minecraft to become such a huge hit.
"I don’t see myself as a real game developer. I make games because it’s fun, and because I love games and I love to program, but I don’t make games with the intention of them becoming huge hits, and I don’t try to change the world," he says.
"Minecraft certainly became a huge hit, and people are telling me it’s changed games. I never meant for it to do either. It’s certainly flattering, and to gradually get thrust into some kind of public spotlight is interesting."
The developer emphasizes that he left the Minecraft development project a long time ago, and despite this, tens of millions of people still associate him with the indie project and this has put a lot of pressure on his shoulders.
"I don’t want to be a symbol, responsible for something huge that I don’t understand, that I don’t want to work on, that keeps coming back to me. I’m not an entrepreneur. I’m not a CEO. I’m a nerdy computer programmer who likes to have opinions on Twitter."
The developer appreciates the love from the community
After the deal is finalized and Microsoft owns Mojang, Persson plans on going back to making games as a hobby, and he thanks the many Minecraft fans for their loyalty.
"I love you. All of you. Thank you for turning Minecraft into what it has become, but there are too many of you, and I can’t be responsible for something this big. In one sense, it belongs to Microsoft now. In a much bigger sense, it’s belonged to all of you for a long time, and that will never change."
Persson concludes by saying that the deal wasn't about the money, as it was about his sanity.