'Minecraft' creator Notch says selling Mojang to Microsoft was about keeping his sanity

Kent Sharkey

Neowin[^]:

When rumors first spread that Mojang, the developer of "Minecraft," would be bought by Microsoft, many quickly looked at the studio's founder, Markus "Notch" Persson, for his rationale for the sale. Today, he's offering just that.

And $2.5billion dollars. That buys a lot of sanity.

megaadam

A penny for your thoughts... Seriously, I feel a bit sad about the thing. And Notch seems rather depressed about the whole big finance thing: notch.net I think he panicked (or something) and I would have wished for a more graceful exit.

Life is too shor

Ian Shlasko

I can't feel sorry for someone who has two and a half billion dollars. I just can't. The guy can do whatever he wants now. He's 35 years old and he can retire in style... Or he can start another game that, just because it'll have "From the creator of Minecraft" on it, will instantly spread worldwide. He didn't panic. He got the big buyout and realized sticking around wasn't right for him. I would have done the same thing.

Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
Author of the Guardians Saga (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels)

megaadam

I am not sorry for him personally, but I do not judge him one bit neither. However I am a bit sorry about the whole thing. Mostly his staff. He already has a few hundred mil USD. He could have given the company to them. I would've, with 100 of that in my pocket I wouldn't crave more. And I would like to think that he didn't crave it. I think he was

coaxed/pressured/nagged&nagged&nagged&nagged/**tired**(or yes: panicked or something)/
\[
    or any combination of similar emotions/circumstances/motivations/etc 
    {
        whaddoiknow maybe his girlfriend said "it's over if you don't", 
        or perhaps he had a dream where his dead great grandpa spoke to him
    }
\]
It most certainly is not like he sought the buyers./

What I am saying is that by "panicked or something" I meant much more than "panicked". And do read his last two blog posts. He does sound a bit depressed.

Life is too shor

Maarten Kools

Reading some of those blog posts I can totally understand why he wanted out of it. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. That's what being famous on the Internet means I suppose. He'll be set for life now, and I'm sure it'll take a whole lot of pressure off his shoulders; let Microsoft deal with all that crap now.