If you’ve been living under a rock the last couple days, allow me to bring you up to speed. One of the biggest indie hits ever is now part of a huge corporate conglomerate!
After speculation ran rampant last week that Microsoft had its sights set on buying Minecraft publisher Mojang, the rumors were confirmed with the announcement of $2.5 billion dollar buy-out today ($1.7 billion of that head towards creator Markus ‘Notch’ Persson’s pocket).
Now Notch breaks his silence, stating he never intended to change the world, just make a fun video game. “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. Minecraft certainly became a huge hit, and people are telling me its 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.” Said Persson.
Unfortunately, Minecraft ’s success resulted in Notch being unable to maintain a grip on his game, as it had grown far too large in scale over the last several years. “…I realize I didn’t have the connection to my fans I thought I had. I’ve become a symbol. 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.”
We’ll continue to monitor the situation, and what it means for the current Minecraft community moving forward.