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Markus ‘Notch' Persson has commented on the criticism he faced following the sale of Minecraft studio, Mojang, to Microsoft for $2.5 billion, explaining why it was the best choice but also admitting that he does indeed feel like a bit of a sellout.
Speaking on Twitter, a fan jokingly asked if Notch felt like a sellout, to which he replied: “I kinda feel like I am, but I still feel like I made the right choice. I guess some things always come at a cost.”
Notch later added that ultimately being seen as a “one trick pony” was hard to deal with, as matching the success of Minecraft would have been impossible. Although he has since made his peace with the idea of Mojang just being ‘the Minecraft studio'.
Notch now owns the most expensive mansion in Beverly hills and makes games for fun once again, often not showing his small prototypes to anyone. He also noted that his love for programming has now returned: “The fun is back! Programming is annoying and frustrating, but SO MUCH FUN. Then when most prototypes are horribly unplayable, nobody judges me :D”
In all, the short Twitter conversation was a nice little insight in to Persson's mindset, sure some may consider him a sellout but he seems to be very happy with the decision.
You can read the whole conversation, HERE.
Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.
KitGuru Says: Honestly, for $2.5 billion it would have been silly to not sell Minecraft. However, it is nice to see that Notch doesn't regret the decision and has since moved on, rediscovering his love for making small games.
I’m glad he is having fun once again (he seems more relaxed).
He wants to put his passion back into his work, the only difference is he shifted more towards doing that whilst also gaining a nice 2.5 billion…
I would think him way more of a sellout if he started making games with the mantra of “this game must have commercial value” rather than enjoying it. Now he has more incentive to do the latter more than ever, as he is already minted and doesn’t need the money!
And I know it isn’t the same but screw it; Better a Notch than a Molyneux 😉
you can bet your bottom dollar that minecraft 2 will be out within 12 months, with micro transactions, limited server and dlc…..microsoft needs to get back 2.5 billion
Except for the fact that Minecraft is already netting a profit for Microsoft, and that they’ve said a Minecraft 2 doesn’t make sense right now. Minecraft is still a Mojang production. Just because Microsoft owns them doesn’t mean Microsoft now makes all the decisions. They just have the final say. Mojang isn’t planning an MC2 any time soon, and Microsoft isn’t going to force it.
I totally envy him. I’d love $2.5 billion in the bank and a chance to play with all the gaming designs I think of.
And I learned that British English now uses “billion” in the same way as American. Knowledge = power. 🙂