Minecraft Creator On Microsoft Deal Its About My Sanity

Minecraft creator on Microsoft deal: 'It's about my sanity'

Shortly after it was announced that Microsoft was buying Minecraft developer Mojang for $2.5bn (PS1.5bn), the Swedish developer behind the title Markus Persson - known as Notch - posted his own personal statement on the acquisition. We have reproduced it in full below:

Mojang is gone!

I don’t think I can be a real game developer. I make games because they are fun and because I love playing games. I don’t plan to make them huge hits and I don’t hope to change the world.

Minecraft is a hugely popular game. I never meant for it to do either. It's flattering, and it's interesting to slowly get in the public spotlight. extremecraft

A relatively long time ago, I decided to step down from Minecraft development. Jens was the perfect person for the job, and I was excited to try new things. I tried to make it big again the first time, but I stopped trying. I have so much fun at work now that I stick to small prototypes.

I wasn’t sure how to fit into Mojang, where people actually work, but people told me that I was important to the culture. extremecraft

I was sick with a cold a few weeks ago and the internet exploded with hatred against me because of an EULA situation. I was confused. I didn't understand. I tweeted this frustration.

Later, I watched this This is Phil Fish video online and realized that I wasn't connected to my fans as I thought. I have 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 am a geeky computer programmer who enjoys sharing my 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 make an error and it gains momentum, I'll likely abandon it immediately.

Given my public image, which is already a bit skewed by me, I don’t expect to be able to ignore negative comments, but at least I won’t feel the need to read them.

I'm aware this goes against a lot of what I've said in public. I don't know how to respond. I am also aware that many of you used me as a symbol for some perceived struggle. I'm not. I'm a person.

I love you. You are all amazing. Thank you for making Minecraft what it is today. But there are too many of us, and I cannot be responsible for something as large as Minecraft. It belongs to Microsoft in one sense. It has been part of all of us for a long period, and that will not change.

It's not about the money. It's about my sanity.