Minecraft: The Unlikely Tale of Markus "Notch" Persson and the Game that Changed Everything (15 page)

Markus Persson. Photo by Kristina Sahlén.

Shortly after MineCon, Markus informed the world that Jens Bergensten was taking over as lead developer for
Minecraft
. Now Jens would have the last word in all decisions while Markus promised to stay in the background. Many people raised their eyebrows when Markus gave his share of Mojang’s profits, $3.5 million, to the employees in early 2012. The decision was sudden. One day, at the office, he gathered his T-shirted colleagues and told them that they were now wealthy men. The money was divided according to how long they had been employed, so Jens received a lesser fortune. But considering the fact that Markus had already made almost twenty times that much on
Minecraft
, his generosity feels more comprehensible.

Markus could at least put one thing behind him. In March 2012, the court case between ZeniMax and Mojang about who owned the right to the name
Scrolls
, was definitely over. A settlement gave the creators of
Minecraft
the right to call their next game
Scrolls
but not to trademark the title. In addition, Mojang was not allowed to make a sequel to
Scrolls
using the same name. The agreement is almost identical to the suggestion Markus and others on Mojang’s board of directors had made to ZeniMax almost a year earlier, an offer that had been refused. When Carl received the invoice from his attorneys, he saw that the case had cost Mojang more than $200,000 in legal fees.

Work on
Scrolls
could continue, but
Scrolls
was Jakob’s game. No matter how much Markus liked the game, he was not going to interfere in its development. He would have to begin something totally new.

It is no small thing to follow up the most talked-about game of the decade. The pressure on Markus can be compared to a musician who has released an award-winning hit album. Everyone is waiting for something new, and they all have ideas about what is most important. Some emphasize making money, others point to what would be most interesting artistically. Markus knew that the next game could never be as successful as
Minecraft
. Nothing could garner him as much money or as much attention. Nothing, except possibly an immediate sequel, milking more from the same recipe for success. And that’s exactly what Markus had promised himself he’d never do.

There was only one reasonable way to go. Markus needed to do something really strange. A game so weird that no one could accuse him of selling out or of being a one-hit wonder.

At the time of writing, the first images from what Markus earlier simply called “the space game” had just surfaced on the Internet. It takes place on a spaceship and will contain programmable 16-bit computers. Markus has decided to call it
0X10c
—a title difficult to interpret, let alone pronounce, that refers to the year when the game takes place. It’s yet another nightmare for marketers and yet another game that the bosses at a larger company would immediately have waved off as lunacy.

The first few days, Markus sat for hours, sunk deep in code. He lives in a significantly larger apartment now than he did when
Minecraft
was created. He is married and has more money in the bank than he can spend in the rest of his life. Otherwise, not much has changed. The old school desk that used to house his LEGO pieces followed in the move. His programming stints in front of the computer are just as long as they were in Sollentuna.
Minecraft
is history, but Markus has found his way back to what he loves.

With a smile, Elin tells us about the Markus she now sees every day at home. He spends most of his time coding. His eyes are shining again, she says. One day, he burst out of his home office. He was exhilarated.

“I’ve done it,” he said, talking quickly, “I’ve sorted out that thing with the shadows.”

Photographs

A replica of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, built on the popular FyreUK server. By FyreUK (www.fyreuk.com) (www.youtube.com/user/fyreuk)

High Rossferry, a city of skyscrapers, bridges, and parks built entirely in
Minecraft
. By Dydtor and Darkone (www.highrossferry.blogspot.com) (www.youtube.com/user/highrossferrycity)

The city is surrounded by water and connected to the mainland by bridges. The architecture is inspired by US cities such as New York and Chicago. By Dydtor and Darkone (www.highrossferry.blogspot.com) (www.youtube.com/user/highrossferrycity)

A beachfront village with an ark, inspired by the biblical story of Noah. Built in survival mode on the Mindcrack server. By BdoubleO (www.youtube.com/bdoubleo100) and Guude (www.youtube.com/guudeboulderfist) http://www.youtube.com/bdoubleo100

A wizard’s castle and an eastern-style palace, with lava curtains activated on a day/night cycle. Built in survival mode on the Mindcrack server. By Arkas (www.youtube.com/arkasmc) and W92baj (www.youtube.com/w92baj)

Fully functioning soda machine. Dispenses various cleverly named potions for the player. By SethBling (www.youtube.com/user/sethbling) (twitter.com/SethBling)

An accurate, working guitar. The player plays individual notes or chords by fingering the correct frets and strumming. By SethBling (www.youtube.com/user/sethbling) (twitter.com/SethBling

A fleet of ships traveling through space, part of a series of space-themed maps. By The VoxelBox (www.youtube.com/voxelboxvideos) (www.twitter.com/voxelbox)