Markus-Persson
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Notch's $70 million LA mansion recreated in Minecraft
As soon as it was known that Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson had bought a $70 million mega-mansion in LA, it was only a matter of time before someone recreated it in blocky form. One dedicated player took up the challenge immediately and, in less than 24 hours, had a video up on YouTube comparing his digital incarnation shot-for-shot with a slick real-estate highlight reel. It's an accurate portrayal of the luxurious Beverly Hills pad, even if it doesn't quite match the ingenuity of some other Minecraft creations we've seen depicting Denmark, works from London's Tate gallery, and the first level from Super Mario Land.
Bloomberg: Mojang's Notch 'unlikely' to stay on after MS buyout
If Microsoft's reported attempt to buy Mojang is successful, a Bloomberg source says founder and owner Markus "Notch" Persson is "unlikely" to stay on at the Swedish studio afterwards. According to the source, which Bloomberg notes as a person "familiar with Microsoft," the two companies are finalizing details after agreeing a framework and approximate price, which The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg believe to be in excess of $2 billion. Bloomberg's insider adds Persson will remain to help during a transition period, but will probably leave the company afterwards. Yesterday The Wall Street Journal claimed Microsoft is in talks to buy Minecraft studio Mojang, and "three people with knowledge of the talks" back that up for Bloomberg. Both Microsoft and Mojang declined to comment to Bloomberg, while a Microsoft spokesperson told Joystiq, "We don't comment on rumors or speculation." According to the reports, the deal could be finalized this week.
Oculus' Carmack to Minecraft creator: 'Say the word'
Earlier this year, Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson announced that his game would not be coming to Oculus' Rift due to the company's acquisition by Facebook. "Facebook creeps me out," Persson said. It seems those heebie-jeebies are starting to subside though, as a different life crisis has come to the forefront: "And about now I'm officially over being upset about Facebook buying Oculus," Persson recently tweeted. "I'm upset about there being a hole in my favorite sock instead." John Carmack, co-creator of Doom, Oculus convert and center of a legal battle with former employer ZeniMax, responded enthusiastically. "Say the word, ship the source, and i'll make sure It runs well on you-know-what," he wrote. Sounds nice, but we're not sure how Carmack would make Persson's sock run well on ... oh. Ohhhh. Nevermind, we just got it. We see what you did there, John. [Image: Mojang]
Minecraft enters final testing before PlayStation 4 debut
Sharpen your pickaxes and keep an eye out for Creepers as the smash-hit building/exploration sandbox Minecraft is inching ever closer to its PlayStation 4 launch, according to a tweet from developer 4J Studios. "We've handed Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition over to Sony for final test!" reads the brief message issued alongside the image you see above. As we reported a month ago, Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition brings with it a number of unique features including optional support for the DualShock 4 touchpad, save game transfers from both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and "a bunch of Sony-specific DLC coming soon after release." Once Minecraft is available on the PlayStation 4, those who own the game on PS3 will be able to upgrade to the game's new generation iteration for $5. Developer 4J Studios has yet to reveal a release date (or even a vague window) for the game's launch, but barring any catastrophes during testing we expect more information soon. [Image: 4J Studios]
New Minecraft EULA exceptions drafted to clarify monetization
The fact that Minecraft users can run their own servers has always been a bit of a double-edged sword - a blocky, low-res sword yes, but one sharp on both sides nonetheless. Players can do just about anything they want on these servers, which is great, but these players also sometimes end up breaking terms of the game's EULA, which gets developer Mojang in trouble. "Some privately run Minecraft servers do charge for in-game items, for xp boosts, for access to certain game modes. Some of them even charge quite a lot," Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson wrote in a new blog post yesterday. "I don't even know how many emails we've gotten from parents, asking for their hundred dollars back their kid spent on an item pack on a server we have no control over." To help protect from such accusations in the future, Mojang has created new rules regarding monetization. The rules have been detailed on Mojang's site, but what it boils down to is fewer restrictions on creating and selling in-game items and other monetized goods. Just make sure to communicate with your customers that you aren't Mojang, don't sell items that impact gameplay, and don't charge real-world money for in-game money. Oh, and one last thing, a request straight from Persson: "Herobrine is not real please stop asking." [Image: Mojang]
Notch launches Cliffhorse, a game about horses on cliffs
Markus "Notch" Persson's first commercial release since the mega-super-ultra hit Minecraft is a game about horses on a hillside. That makes sense. Cliffhorse puts players in control of a horse in the grassy, hilly wilderness, and it's available to download for Windows right here. The whole idea is silly, as represented by Notch's tweets introducing the game and website (read those tweets below). If you're feeling generous, you can donate some Dogecoins to the project, but the "early access" download of the game is free. Notch says Cliffhorse has earned more than 280,000 Dogecoins, or $100. If these horses hang off the sides of cliffs, are they then Cliff-horse-hangers? We think so. We. Think. So. [Image: Notch]
Notch on Minecraft, money and manic depression
Markus Persson has a 10-year plan for Mojang, the company he founded to update Minecraft and help him create new games. In the plan, Persson hopes that Mojang will continue to be profitable, but if it stops, "that's fine," he says. "We just have 10 fun years, and then, the last year, we'd say to our employees, 'If we don't make any money this year, Mojang is going to be dead. So you might want to look for new jobs,'" Persson tells Rolling Stone. Mojang is estimated to be worth $2 billion. Scrolls, Mojang's collectible card adventure, is profitable, but it makes "peanuts" next to Minecraft, Persson says. In 2013, Persson halted work on his epic space game, 0x10c, citing a creative block that wouldn't budge. He works in waves – some weeks he'll program consistently, and others he'll play Borderlands 2 all day, he tells the magazine. Persson is concerned about these patterns, since they mimic habits he saw in his father, who took medication for manic depression and committed suicide in 2011. "The depression, I'm worried about," Persson says. "With the creative stuff, I have highs of being very productive and lows of being not productive. I have that in my moods as well." Now, Persson is trying to distance himself from the pressure to create another hit game, and simply have fun developing something. His devil-may-care attitude regarding money and success is mostly a facade, he says: "I think the only way I could make something fun and big is if I don't expect it to be." [Image: Mojang]
Minecraft creator's game jam entry is Drowning in Problems
The latest online game jam in the popular Ludum Dare series carries the theme "beneath the surface," and recently ended with a total of 2,497 entries, 1,493 of which were created in 48 hours for the two-day competition. One entry comes from Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson, and is called Drowning in Problems. The browser game is two parts Cookie Clicker and one part The Sims, as players click basic text links to progress through life and "solve" issues like stress, love and money. As players grow, their attention divides among the myriad of problems to solve in their lives, spending their knowledge, money, friends, loyalty and more to receive increasingly-advanced concepts like crushed dreams and broken hearts. Completing Drowning in Problems shouldn't take more than roughly 15 minutes, though it's a thoughtful little excursion. Another attention-grabbing entry in the Ludum Dare 29 competition is The Valley Rule by Ryan Carag with music and sound provided by Bill Kiley, seen above. Created in 72 hours, the platformer gives off strong Fez and Cave Story vibes, challenging players to unlock a large door to get to the surface of the game's world, searching for keys in the area to do so. Along the way, players find abilities such as the "will to climb" that grant them access to new areas. The post-jam version of The Valley Rule is available to play at Newgrounds. Ludum Dare 29 is currently in the judging phase, which ends on Monday, May 19. [Image: Ryan Carag]
Minecraft creator's latest game trades blocks for existential angst
While the game's intro tells us, "There is nothing," there is a lot more to the little word game beneath the surface. Drowning in Problems is in fact Minecraft creator Markus Persson's entry in Ludum Dare. The contest is an accelerated game-development event where programmers create a game in a weekend based on a theme chosen by the community. The theme for this event, Ludum 29, was: beneath the surface. The game is set up with awards and costs: You start with nothing and by clicking Solve, you'll become not nothing. Clicking again gives you hope; hope gives way to a body; and you are born. The game continues this way, gradually growing in complexity as you give up things you've solved to advance in life, get a job, meet a lover and grow. From start to finish, it takes about 10 minutes to complete if you button smash, much longer if you take the time to follow the -- decidedly glum -- narrative. Hit up the link below to play it through, or, if you'd rather follow on to Ludum Dare to get the source code and learn more. And with that you'll have to excuse us as we take a bit of time to kill off some Creepers and Zombies to cheer ourselves up.
Minecraft finds vein of money, reaches 15 million sold on PC
The original, PC version of Minecraft recently reached 15 million in sales, according to a tweet from the game's creator, Markus "Notch" Persson. The game passed 14 million sold on PC in early February, and hit two other sales milestones on other platforms this month: 12 million copies on Xbox 360 and 21 million for the Pocket Edition on Android and iOS. Minecraft first arrived in alpha form in May 2009, well before its full version release in November 2011. Developer Mojang recently launched the subscription-based Minecraft Realms service for hosting multiplayer worlds, which starts at $13 per month. It plans to launch a boxed retail version of the game on PS3 in May, which sold one million copies digitally in its first month on PSN, as well as PS4 and Vita versions in Q2 or Q3 this year. The upcoming Xbox One version of Minecraft will allow players to transfer their saved worlds from Xbox 360, just like the versions for the aforementioned Sony systems. [Image: Mojang]
The Simpsons did a Minecraft intro, watch it here
The most surprising thing about the Minecraft intro that featured in last night's Simpsons episode is that it hadn't happened already. The real question, though: Is it better than this user-created version of the Simpsons intro in Minecraft? It's not every day the world's longest-running sitcom pastiches your game, so Minecraft creator Markus 'Notch' Persson tweeted his thoughts about it: "The Simpsons did a Minecraft couch gag. Not sure how I feel about it. I STILL feel a bit like it's just this small game I made at home. It's so weird to have all these things happen. <3" You can watch the episode in full on the Fox site. [Image: Mojang]
CCP still 'excited for friends and colleagues at Oculus'
News of the Oculus-Facebook buyout may have saddened gamers -- including Minecraft maestro Markus "Notch" Persson -- but EVE Online developer CCP is taking the corporate high road. The company, which is polishing a virtual reality action title called EVE: Valkyrie that will be co-published by Oculus, put a positive spin on the future of the Rift without mentioning the $2 billion Facebook acquisition. "We're very excited for our friends and colleagues at Oculus," CCP told Engadget. "We share their vision about the future of VR and gaming and are looking forward to participating in the consumer launch of the Oculus Rift with Eve: Valkyrie." CCP announced at last week's GDC that Valkyrie will also appear on the PlayStation 4 in conjunction with Sony's Project Morpheus initiative.
Notch cancels Minecraft for Oculus Rift, but other developers still have interest (update)
It looks as if the Facebook and Oculus deal already has its first casualty. Minecraft mastermind Markus "Notch" Persson has said that he'll no longer be developing his game for the Rift after Zuckerberg's purchase. "We were in talks about maybe bringing a version of Minecraft to Oculus," he tweeted. "I just cancelled that deal. Facebook creeps me out." Persson continues on his blog that, while social aspects could be one of VR's biggest applications, he doesn't want to work with social experiences -- he wants to work with games. Beyond that, he doesn't see the social network as a stable platform, and won't work with it in any form as such. If you were dead-set on traversing a pixelated Great Britain in VR, it's looking like you might have to settle for the hacked PC version for now. All isn't lost, though. Minecraft's already been announced as a PlayStation 4 title and the wraps recently came off Sony's Project Morpheus headset -- it could possibly show up there. That arguably one of the biggest indie developers (and one of Oculus' earliest supporters), however, has cancelled a project the scale of Minecraft is pretty major. What do others in the indie scene make of the news, though? Those we spoke to actually seemed pretty happy about it. Update: John Carmack has also tweeted about the sale, saying "I am coding right now, just like I was last week." Check after the the break for more of his statements on the matter.
'Facebook creeps me out,' Notch ends Minecraft for Oculus Rift [Update]
Those eager to cobble together monumental structures in virtual reality will be sad to hear that Minecraft is no longer likely to be developed for the Oculus Rift officially. In August we reported on a series of tweets from Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson in which the developer stated that he was "VERY excited" by the potential of the Oculus Rift headset. Now that Facebook has acquired Oculus Rift, Persson is singing a different, decidedly unhappy tune. "We were in talks about maybe bringing a version of Minecraft to Oculus," Persson tweeted. "I just cancelled that deal. Facebook creeps me out." We've reached out to Persson for more information on why exactly the social networking giant creeps him out. In the meantime, those especially hard up for some blocky virtual world building may want to take a look at Minecrift, a Minecraft modification that adds Oculus Rift support to the existing version of Mojang's indie hit. Update: In lieu of responding directly to press inquiries, Persson has posted a lengthy explanation of his issues with Facebook which we've quoted in part below.
Minecraft developer continues rise in profit, made $128 million in 2013
Mojang, development studio behind the wildly-successful Minecraft, has continued its five-year trend of increased profitability. Mojang revenue topped $237 million in 2012, while a Wall Street Journal article reports that number to have hit $326 million for 2013, which in turn translates to almost $128 million in profit. Roughly 93 percent of the company's money was made from Minecraft, split fairly even across platforms: 38 percent from the PC version, 30 percent from console versions and 25 percent from mobile versions. Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson, who still owns the rights to the Minecraft IP, was the single-largest expense for Mojang; the company paid out approximately $129 million in license fees to Persson last year. [Image: Mojang]
Pieces might be falling into place for a Minecraft movie from Warner Bros.
Prepare thyselves, Minecrafters. Earlier today, Deadline reported that Warner Bros. had acquired the rights to turn the indie phenomenon Minecraft "into a major motion picture." The popular franchise has apparently already drawn "huge interest" from writers and filmmakers, making it a hot property for Warner Bros. to add to its mighty portfolio. The studio giant is rumored to have chosen Roy Lee to take production charge of said Minecraft project; he recently produced The Lego Movie, which has been a complete hit at the box office. Minecraft creator, Markus "Notch" Persson, isn't keeping quiet and recently tweeted about how he "wanted to be the leak," hinting that, perhaps, there is a movie in the works. Still, nothing's actually been confirmed yet -- but, as they say, where there's smoke, there's fire. Until then, maybe this documentary can control your high level of excitement.
Lego Movie producer tapped for 'potential' Minecraft movie
Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson has revealed that a movie based on the wildly popular sandbox creation game may be headed to theaters at some point in the future. "Someone is trying leak the fact that we're working with Warner Brothers on a potential Minecraft Movie," Persson tweeted. "I wanted to be the leak!" According to a Deadline report, Warner Bros. recently acquired the rights to make a Minecraft film from developer Mojang, and has tapped The Lego Movie producer Roy Lee to oversee the project. Beyond Persson's lone tweet and Deadline's mention of a producer, no information on this Minecraft movie exists, though we can be reasonably sure that it won't be a documentary on the game. Thanks to 2 Player Productions, we've already got one of those. [Image: Mojang]
Notch eating chocolate and talking games on The Late Late Show
Markus "Notch" Persson, the creator of Minecraft and all-around high-profile indie game developer, guest starred on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson last night. The two gents talked about the games Notch plays – apparently he's into everything, but he really enjoys Grand Theft Auto – and the "games" Ferguson plays, such as Mario Kart. According to Notch, that one deserves the air quotes. Ferguson said he looked up Notch online and discovered one of the industry's darkest secrets – the gaming world is catty. "It seems like there's quite a lot of bitchiness in your world," he said. "Quite a lot of people are like, 'I hate him, he created Minecraft! How dare he not be me.'" Notch agreed, but said he too was irrationally protective of the games he plays. C'est la vie. If you missed Notch on The Late Late Show, don't worry – he was easy to miss because he pointedly wasn't wearing a fedora – there's a full clip of the interview here.
Minecraft's Notch to appear on The Late Late Show this Thursday
Hold on to your fedoras, everyone – Markus Persson, better known as "Notch" and even better known as "the creator of Minecraft," is making his talk show debut on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on Thursday, November 7. This isn't only the first appearance for Notch on a mainstream talk show, but it's the first time an independent game developer has graced such a program in recent memory. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime doesn't capture quite the same vibe as Notch. Minecraft has sold more than 30 million copies across all current platforms, it's coming to next-gen consoles, it has its own convention and it's a Lego set, which is obviously the most relevant indicator of success. Speaking of hats (yes, we were), bets are now open: Will Notch wear a fedora during his appearance on The Late Late Show?
Notch shelves space game 0x10c, but its legacy lives on in fan project
Markus "Notch" Persson, creator of the legendarily successful Minecraft, has shelved his spaceship management/space exploration/space-y stuff game 0x10c, but a group of dedicated fans wants to bring it back... kind of. 0x10c was put on ice back in April due to a "creative block," but Persson told viewers of a Team Fortress 2 livestream this week that it would never be coming off said metaphorical ice, as he had no future aspirations for it. Naturally, some fans were upset. Others took it upon themselves to make sure the game was made, even if they had to do it themselves. Shane Dalton, Project Lead of the 0x10c revival, told USGamer that he and his team "didn't really look into" why Notch cancelled the game. "We just sort of looked at the project and were like, 'Okay. This is a community project now.' We're not using any of his old code, his name or anything," he said. Dalton's team also isn't using the game's name, and instead will be referring to it as "Project Trillek" for now. Dalton and his team also have no plans to monetize the game once it's released. All that seems to be staying the same between 0x10c and Project Trillek is Persson's core gameplay concept, where humans must navigate space and manage their spaceship, which features a fully-functional 16-bit CPU. Update: It has come to our attention that the team behind Project Trillek does not plan on using 0x10c's original story concept. The text of this article has been updated accordingly.
