Notch is no longer upset about Facebook buying Oculus Rift

Aug 19, 2014 08:17 GMT  ·  By

Markus "Notch" Persson, the creator of the insanely popular crafting and survival video game Minecraft, is no longer upset about Facebook's acquisition of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.

Back in March, when the deal was first announced, Notch said that he had canceled the Minecraft version that had been in development for the Oculus Rift, because Facebook crept him out.

"Facebook is not a company of grass-roots tech enthusiasts. Facebook is not a game tech company. Facebook has a history of caring about building user numbers, and nothing but building user numbers," Persson said.

"I definitely want to be a part of VR, but I will not work with Facebook. Their motives are too unclear and shifting, and they haven't historically been a stable platform. There's nothing about their history that makes me trust them, and that makes them seem creepy to me," he concluded.

Now, Persson appears to have calmed down a bit, as he reveals that he is upset about his favorite sock getting a hole, instead of the whole Facebook and Oculus Rift thing. In case anyone should prove incredulous, Persson also provided a picture of said sock.

Back when he was still mad, he mentioned that there was a VR version of Minecraft that he had been working on but that he canned. Now it seems that the waters have cooled, and John Carmack, who is now involved with the development effort for the Oculus Rift, replied to Persson, "Say the word, ship the source, and I'll make sure it runs well on you-know-what..."

Notch later added that developing an Oculus Rift version of Minecraft is up to the game's development team at Mojang, when asked by a fan whether a VR version of the open-world sandbox title was back on the menu.

While this is by no means a guarantee, it's still pretty important, since it re-opens a shut door, that to an official version of Minecraft with Oculus Rift support.

For the time being, those who want to enjoy a VR-enabled experience in Minecraft can do so through Minecrift, a mod that adds some degree of Oculus Rift support to the game.

Official support for the headset however would definitely provide a much more robust and full-featured experience, not to mention give a healthy boost to the acceptance of the device, through Minecraft's over 54 million-large audience.

That audience is likely to grow by a significant amount in the near future, as the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita versions of Minecraft are expected to come out by the end of this month.