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Microsoft announces purchase of Minecraft creator Mojang

H

hepburn3d

Member
Reading this I can't help but completely agree with him. Well done that man :)

I'm leaving Mojang

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 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.

A relatively long time ago, I decided to step down from Minecraft development. Jens was the perfect person to take over leading it, and I wanted to try to do new things. At first, I failed by trying to make something big again, but since I decided to just stick to small prototypes and interesting challenges, I’ve had so much fun with work. I wasn’t exactly sure how I fit into Mojang where people did actual work, but since people said I was important for the culture, I stayed.

I was at home with a bad cold a couple of weeks ago when the internet exploded with hate against me over some kind of EULA situation that I had nothing to do with. I was confused. I didn’t understand. I tweeted this in frustration. Later on, I watched the This is Phil Fish video on YouTube and started to 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.

As soon as this deal is finalized, I will leave Mojang and go back to doing Ludum Dares and small web experiments. If I ever accidentally make something that seems to gain traction, I’ll probably abandon it immediately.

Considering the public image of me already is a bit skewed, I don’t expect to get away from negative comments by doing this, but at least now I won’t feel a responsibility to read them.

I’m aware this goes against a lot of what I’ve said in public. I have no good response to that. I’m also aware a lot of you were using me as a symbol of some perceived struggle. I’m not. I’m a person, and I’m right there struggling with you.

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.

It’s not about the money. It’s about my sanity.
Click to expand...
 
T

Tobor

Member
BruceLeeRoy said:
Yup. Tying it to just their ecosystem would have been insane when were talking about the kind money the sequel and this franchise will make.
Click to expand...

Which begs the question, if that's true, why bother with hardware anymore? They could sell all their franchises this way and make a lot more money.
 
I

Indiedevs

Banned
Can this be added to the bunch of stupid business decisions made by Microsoft? $2.5 billion, come on? How are they going to earn back the money? Minecraft 2 sounds like an dumb idea, and the big majority have already bought it long ago. Other developers have also started to copy the ideas.
 
R

Revan

Member
......and boom goes the dynamite.

I just hope the Vita version drops soon.

And that all non MS-platforms will be still supported.
 
S

SgtCobra

Member
Man said:
LOL

04f7f08f8cff85fcc32f93dae6065c70_reasonably_small.jpeg
Click to expand...
Flawless
 
S

shandy706

Member
From his post.

Considering the public image of me already is a bit skewed, I don’t expect to get away from negative comments by doing this, but at least now I won’t feel a responsibility to read them.

I’m aware this goes against a lot of what I’ve said in public. I have no good response to that. I’m also aware a lot of you were using me as a symbol of some perceived struggle. I’m not. I’m a person, and I’m right there struggling with you.

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.

It’s not about the money. It’s about my sanity.
Click to expand...


Sounds like he just wants to go back to him and a couple friends messing around vs being the head of a big(ger) company.
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
as much as I think 'well done' to the original founders, a lot of the continued success of minecraft is down to Jens and those that kept developing the platform. Is there any news on whether they are being looked after or will get something out of this deal?
 
C

Coffee Dog

Banned
Notch probably just realized that nobody gave a shit about Scrolls or his space game so he took a huge payout and ran for the hills. Nobody can blame him.
 
H

Holographix

Banned
alr1ght said:
.
Click to expand...

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.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure if he proof read himself....
 
L

limlark

Member
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.
Click to expand...
"But in a much more real sense, it belongs to Microsoft."
 
A

alr1ght

bish gets all the credit :)
I’m aware this goes against a lot of what I’ve said in public. I have no good response to that. I’m also aware a lot of you were using me as a symbol of some perceived struggle. I’m not. I’m a person, and I’m right there struggling with you.
Click to expand...

man, i would love to struggle.
 
T

truth411

Member
ZeroGravity said:
Nonsense. Minecraft is a cultural milestone in gaming and it still surprises me how many people fail to realize the impact it's had, especially with younger gamers. It will have the same kind of lasting success that things like Tetris and Mario have had.
Click to expand...

Ca'Mon man, everyone pretty much already have Mine craft, Knowing M.S. there going to want a Mine Craft 2 but littered with Micro transactions, with no guarantee of striking gold again. This is shaping up to be RARE 2.0 that costed M.S. 2.5 Billion dollars.
 
F

Fallout-with-swords

Banned
I feel like this purchase has a lot more to do with Microsoft than just Xbox, Minecraft is more than just a game at this point. It'll probably be built in to every Windows 9 PC or something.
 
A

Axass

Member
Everything was alright in that statement from Notch, he seemed sincere... up until this:

It’s not about the money. It’s about my sanity.
Click to expand...

How about no? I understand your problems and I really do believe them... but you can't say that $2.5 billions didn't cloud your judgement.
 
T

Tobor

Member
It belongs to Microsoft in every sense, Notch. We don't own shit, theoretically or otherwise.

This is so sad.
 
N

Nzyme32

Member
hepburn3d said:
Reading this I can't help but completely agree with him. Well done that man :)
Click to expand...

Yeah. He has summed up his position in all this pretty well. Good luck to him in future, hope he is happier now. Cue obvious - "of course he is happier with that much money"
 
S

sirap

Member
Aklamarth said:
Yeah, he valued his sanity a 2.5 billion. What a bunch of bollocks....
Click to expand...

Notch has always been a hypocrite. If you've been a fan of Minecraft from the start you'd know all the shit that's happened throughout the years. The whole fiasco with Yogscast was the turning point for me.

Not that I have any problems with getting paid, but jesus I wished he'd be honest about it.
 
ZeroGravity

ZeroGravity

Member
truth411 said:
Ca'Mon man, everyone pretty much already have Mine craft, Knowing M.S. there going to want a Mine Craft 2 but littered with Micro transactions, with no guarantee of striking gold again. This is shaping up to be RARE 2.0 that costed M.S. 2.5 Billion dollars.
Click to expand...
Rare's entire IP catalog was still a fraction of the success that Minecraft has become, and will continue to be.
 
I

Ikuu

Had his dog run over by Blizzard's CEO
Krisprolls said:
What a terrible buy by MS, once again... The heads like Notch are leaving anyway and Minecraft hype died long ago. They're basically getting zero for their 2.5 billion.
Click to expand...

laugh.gif


Notch hasn't worked on the game for years.
 
Mengy

Mengy

wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Well I have to say that the initial news is much better than I expected. It really sounds like they are simply going to let Mojang do their thing for now and keep Minecraft going the way it has been going.

Color me impressed Microsoft. Now just keep up that attitude and this may work out well for everyone, both Microsoft and the consumers!
 
J

Jigorath

Banned
It’s not about the money. It’s about my sanity.
Click to expand...

If that was the case then he could have just left Mojang without selling the company. Of course it's about the money. Nothing wrong with that, if I had the chance to become a billionaire I'd take it in a heartbeat.
 
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