Notch sells Minecraft to M$ for $2.5 billion

[Spectacle]

You can't say Notch was a complete failure of a CEO, he hired all the right people to make him billions, he doesn't give himself credit for that. I was wondering who was the mastermind that kept growing Minecraft even now, clearly it wasn't him.

I don't believe there's anything behind minecraft's success other than dumb luck. It's primarily been modders and server owners that have given the game longevity and made it grow in popularity year after year.

 

[Dr Tomo]

Scrolls was pretty much not Notch's job, but another team at Mojang.

No he was lead creative director I believe as the first video of him showing off his creation and he was directing the team as he can't do this solo.

 

[DeusX1]

- Notch is not good programmer. He made it in Java because it is high API that is much easier than C++ or C (primary languages for games dev.). If you actually fallow his developement of Minecraft you would see that he made absolutely shitty progress over years. When he hired Jeb then Minecraft dev speed picked up. Minecraft alone is not some amazing hard game to create. Minecraft is minecraft because of FAD. Any team even small of proper devs could recreate and go beyond of what mojang did in 1/4 of time. Hell look even at mods like Millienare mod which adds whole towns/AI/ advaced scripts/management and so on which is much harder to do at scale much bigger than what Mojang ever did.
- I met dudes like him in my work every day 9/10 of them are have much better skills.
- YEah right. He is just random dev who randomly stroke goldvein and multiple times was no consistent with what he is talking about. Like his selling of mojang vs oculus rant sellout.

- Notch is a brilliant game programmer, I've seen him code, he transforms code in gameplay like it's 2nd nature to him. So what if he uses Java? That only means he likes it. What's wrong with that? You want him to use Assembly to prove something? There is a good reason why most indie devs don't like C++. It doesn't matter it's not a hard game to make, what it matters is that it's a revolutionary game. In all these decades of gaming, nobody did this before.
Nobody in this world gets rich like that "randomly". I mean probably you can get rich if your lucky, but not that freakin rich. Even before the microsoft deal, he had shittons of money that you just can't make with luck. A random Joe couldn't pull this off. He's a self made billionaire, the fuck yo.
And btw, I don't play minecraft.

 

[himmy]

Minecraft alone is not some amazing hard game to create. Minecraft is minecraft because of FAD. Any team even small of proper devs could recreate and go beyond of what mojang did in 1/4 of time. Hell look even at mods like Millienare mod which adds whole towns/AI/ advaced scripts/management and so on which is much harder to do at scale much bigger than what Mojang ever did.
- I met dudes like him in my work every day 9/10 of them are have much better skills.
- YEah right. He is just random dev who randomly stroke goldvein and multiple times was no consistent with what he is talking about. Like his selling of mojang vs oculus rant sellout.

You're basically giving the tired "my kids could have made that" argument that the art world is dealing with for decades. Yeah, but they fucking didn't, did they? Fuck your kids!

 

[Perkel]

- I don't care if he is John Carmack when intimate but i judge him on his actual work. Minecraft from alpha to beta to 1.0 was fucking slow progress. ONLY AFTER JEB was hired they started to release proper updates regularly.

If you want to acutally see someone smart look here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGP7S2Oq0M8#t=210

Dude is fucking working alone and between July and August he wrote own scipting language for his game so that people would be able to mod this game easily without knowing C++. Not only that he added that but also made game run twice as fast + now he can mod game ON FLY through his own scripting language. + through his LTSL people can make new content just scripting stuff.
And that dude makes updates like this every month. Not only he does content but also graphics and design of whole game including advanced economy and stuff.

Now that is amazing programmer.

Now let's look what Notch and Mojang did not:

- make game run well. OPTIFINE mod is like 2 years old now and game is fucking sqare blocks without any shaders
- modAPI which supposedly started after 1.00
- multiplayer API. They just bought bukkit
- actual worthwile content. just read 1.0- 1.8 changes and see how much stuff they added is actual content. And each of those updates took literally months. Most of modders outpace Mojang in everything.

You're basically giving the tired "my kids could have made that" argument that the art world is dealing with for decades. Yeah, but they fucking didn't, did they? Fuck your kids!

That is the point. Minecraft isn't succesful because Notch was awesome programmer or Minecraft is amazing game. It sold this much because of FAD.


Same as Flappy Bird.

 

[Gozma]

I'd say Schelling point rather than fad. I think the basic appeal is real and will endure, like the appeal of erector sets or Legos, but the fact that it was Minecraft that became the big winner isn't really because Minecraft is so amazing or Notch is brilliant. If it strikes you that Notch HAS to be a brilliant god-man for his shit to be worth 2.5 billion for Microsoft, I think you're probably getting Just World fallacy'd

 

[Paul_cz]

Notch got the right inspiration for the right idea at the right time, and he had the right skills to execute well on that idea.
If he had and executed that idea 5 years earlier, or 5 years later, MC would probably not be this successful, if at all. But he struck gold at precise time when Youtube started being huge.
MC's success is combination of luck and skill. And Notch would be the first to admit that.

 

[AMG]

So just like every successful business venture ever. Who would have thought.
Salty faggots in this thread should start working on getting those billions if it is so easy instead shedding tears about other people becoming filthy rich. Why didn't you sell your java game for 3 bil yet?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

In all these decades of gaming, nobody did this before.

While I can't think of any examples right now to back up my statement, I'm 95% certain that someone HAS done something like this before. But whomever did it and whenever they did, they didn't make it as easy and simple to use as Notch did with Minecraft. Sometimes timing is all that is needed to make someone else's failure into your success.

 

[Dr Tomo]

In all these decades of gaming, nobody did this before.

While I can't think of any examples right now to back up my statement, I'm 95% certain that someone HAS done something like this before. But whomever did it and whenever they did, they didn't make it as easy and simple to use as Notch did with Minecraft. Sometimes timing is all that is needed to make someone else's failure into your success.

Yea it amuses me the amount of people here who are claiming that it wasn't timing or luck and yet there are plenty of examples in gaming of people doing just that. I see Minecrafts value no different then Wow when the mmo space was devoid of actual competition and Zynga is another example with Mark Pincus who is less brilliant then Notch and yet worth billions. I get a feeling if someone actually did some research we would see over half of the developers who got rich is thanks to timing/dumb luck which played a significant role.

 

[Boleskine]

I think this video contains the exact moment Notch decided he didn't want to be associated with Minecraft anymore.

 

[Farage]

1:23

 

[Clockwork Knight]

That is the point. Minecraft isn't succesful because Notch was awesome programmer or Minecraft is amazing game. It sold this much because of FAD.

Same as Flappy Bird.

Nope, fad isn't really a synonym for "really popular". Flappy Bird enjoyed a short yet massive burst of attention for one or two months (iedit: ts creator removed it from the internet after that for personal reasons, but soon afterwards nobody remembers the thing anymore, so it had no staying power once the novelty wore off). Minecraft started in 2009 as some barely functional alpha and six years later it inspired countless clones, the "survival genre" and Microsoft is buying it for two goddamn billion dollars.

 

[Perkel]

That is the point. Minecraft isn't succesful because Notch was awesome programmer or Minecraft is amazing game. It sold this much because of FAD.

Same as Flappy Bird.

Nope, fad isn't really a synonym for "really popular". Flappy Bird enjoyed a short yet massive burst of attention for one or two months (iedit: ts creator removed it from the internet after that for personal reasons, but soon afterwards nobody remembers the thing anymore, so it had no staying power once the novelty wore off). Minecraft started in 2009 as some barely functional alpha and six years later it inspired countless clones, the "survival genre" and Microsoft is buying it for two goddamn billion dollars.

Now you are confusing FAD with mods. MODS and private servers are the one that balooned Minecraft into stratosphere. That combined with youtube prolonged FAD into actual community movement.

So again Mojang didn't have anything to do with popularity because design, abilities and so on. They were just at the right time at the right place.

Community is making them money, promoting their game and developing itself. Which they realized 2-3 years ago and they aquired bukkit which was essential to Minecraft success at this scale we have today.

No one denies that they made ton of money. But making Mojang actual source of that success or quality of their programmers is fallacy.

 

[Davaris]

You can't say Notch was a complete failure of a CEO, he hired all the right people to make him billions, he doesn't give himself credit for that. I was wondering who was the mastermind that kept growing Minecraft even now, clearly it wasn't him.

I don't believe there's anything behind minecraft's success other than dumb luck. It's primarily been modders and server owners that have given the game longevity and made it grow in popularity year after year.

He's a lucky asshole.

From what I understand he's not much of a designer either, because he ripped the idea for Minecraft from Zachtronics. Bet they are kicking themselves right now.

I don't envy him his billion dollars though. That kind of money is going to isolate him.

 

[Telengard]

While I can't think of any examples right now to back up my statement, I'm 95% certain that someone HAS done something like this before. But whomever did it and whenever they did, they didn't make it as easy and simple to use as Notch did with Minecraft. Sometimes timing is all that is needed to make someone else's failure into your success.

I'll help you out.

• Dig Dug (digging blocks)
  
• Castles (block building)
  
• Dungeon Keeper (digging blocks and base building)
  
• Lego Rock Raiders (digging and base building and item building)
  
• Stronghold (2.5d and 3d block building)
  
• Dwarf Fortress (the works)
  
• Garry's Mod (tool building)
  
• Infiniminer (main gameplay Minecraft is based around)

 

[Stainless Veteran]

You can't say Notch was a complete failure of a CEO, he hired all the right people to make him billions, he doesn't give himself credit for that. I was wondering who was the mastermind that kept growing Minecraft even now, clearly it wasn't him.

I don't believe there's anything behind minecraft's success other than dumb luck. It's primarily been modders and server owners that have given the game longevity and made it grow in popularity year after year.

He's a lucky asshole.

From what I understand he's not much of a designer either, because he ripped the idea for Minecraft from Zachtronics. Bet they are kicking themselves right now.

I don't envy him his billion dollars though. That kind of money is going to isolate him.

Yeah, basically Infiniminer + some of ideas from Dwarf Fortress + being in the right place at the right time.

I wonder what will tax deduction from his 2,5 billion be.

 

[Robert Jarzebina]

2013-09: MS acquiring Nokia: $7B
2014-06: 12K former Nokia employees laid off
2014-09: Nokia brand dead?
2014-09: MS acquires Mojang: $2.5B

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I'll help you out.

• Dig Dug (digging blocks)
  
• Castles (block building)
  
• Dungeon Keeper (digging blocks and base building)
  
• Lego Rock Raiders (digging and base building and item building)
  
• Stronghold (2.5d and 3d block building)
  
• Dwarf Fortress (the works)
  
• Garry's Mod (tool building)
  
• Infiniminer (main gameplay Minecraft is based around)

I feel like a total retard for not thinking of Dwarf Fortress, which is by far the best match of these titles, barring Infiniminer which I didn't know about, so thanks for that.

 

[Destroid]

Notch didn't even really help the modders, simply the fact that it was java allowed them to reasonably extract the source (which was obfuscated) for themselves. He didn't release the source and the modding API came well after Notch had made millions.

 

[St. Toxic]

I tried Minecraft on the rep that it was a first person version of Dwarf Fortress without the complexity, aka dumbed down, and found the description to be quite accurate. It's not much of a game on its own; more like a basic platform for further game creation. However, this platform is open enough to allow for numerous interpretations of the same basic concept and, while hardly limitless, varied and interesting reiterations of the same basic mechanics. Now the brand name essentially encompasses a game concept, in itself hardly that original, but recognizable enough to the public that any any attempt to imitate its core mechanics is branded a "spin-off". I wouldn't attribute its success to luck as much as player accessibility, as even the lowliest retard is capable of punching a tree or building a hut out of dirt, and modder accessibility, allowing the game to go beyond dirt huts into space travel, magic and nuclear reactors. DF will give you neither, despite the obviously larger scope and deeper complexity.

Also, Minecraft is a multiplayer franchise. It's basically a fucking MMO with mod support. I can still recall the hassle of customizing UO servers, which generally meant swapping some assets around -- forget total conversions or adding space lazors to the game. Here you've got everything from servers aping Q1 deathmatch arenas to Harry Potter.

At this point, Microsoft could just throw some money on a noticeable graphical overhaul and resell the game. Modders might presumably find themselves unable to keep up with the new engine standards, giving M$ further exclusivity over developing new game content -- basically reworking already fleshed out community ideas and package them off as DLC. For consoles, obviously, there's no other choice.

 

[pakoito]

I remember Ace of Spades first alphas before it became full retarded and then was sold out for complete HURR. Barebones game, SO MUCH FUN.

 

[Perkel]

I'll help you out.

• Dig Dug (digging blocks)
  
• Castles (block building)
  
• Dungeon Keeper (digging blocks and base building)
  
• Lego Rock Raiders (digging and base building and item building)
  
• Stronghold (2.5d and 3d block building)
  
• Dwarf Fortress (the works)
  
• Garry's Mod (tool building)
  
• Infiniminer (main gameplay Minecraft is based around)

I feel like a total retard for not thinking of Dwarf Fortress, which is by far the best match of these titles, barring Infiniminer which I didn't know about, so thanks for that.

Minecraft was Notch attempt to do Dwarf Fortress clone just in 3D.

Since that day villagers learned in update 1.8 that they can harvest crops but they don't eat it actually and they get seed from unknown source and they replant crop.
Such progress.

 

[St. Toxic]

Minecraft was Notch attempt to do Dwarf Fortress clone just in 3D.

Was that ever stated officially? It's what I heard too back in alpha.

 

[pakoito]

- Notch is not good programmer. He made it in Java because it is high API that is much easier than C++ or C (primary languages for games dev.). If you actually fallow his developement of Minecraft you would see that he made absolutely shitty progress over years. When he hired Jeb then Minecraft dev speed picked up. Minecraft alone is not some amazing hard game to create. Minecraft is minecraft because of FAD. Any team even small of proper devs could recreate and go beyond of what mojang did in 1/4 of time. Hell look even at mods like Millienare mod which adds whole towns/AI/ advaced scripts/management and so on which is much harder to do at scale much bigger than what Mojang ever did.
- I met dudes like him in my work every day 9/10 of them are have much better skills.
- YEah right. He is just random dev who randomly stroke goldvein and multiple times was no consistent with what he is talking about. Like his selling of mojang vs oculus rant sellout.

- Notch is a brilliant game programmer, I've seen him code, he transforms code in gameplay like it's 2nd nature to him. So what if he uses Java? That only means he likes it. What's wrong with that? You want him to use Assembly to prove something? There is a good reason why most indie devs don't like C++.

I sometimes prototype games in Java and yours is still an incorrect statement to put it politely.