Mike
Mojang, das Entwicklerstudio von Minecraft, wurde von Microsoft für ungefähr 2,5 Milliarden US-Dollar gekauft. Es kursierten bereits letzte Woche Gerüchte darüber im Netz, nun wurde der Deal offiziell bestätigt.
In einem Blog Post erklärte Mojang, dass die Übernahme nicht dazu führe, dass Minecraft Spiele und Apps von Microsoft-fremden Geräten gelöscht werden:
“There’s no reason for the development, sales, and support of the PC/Mac, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Vita, iOS, and Android versions of Minecraft to stop,”
“Of course, Microsoft can’t make decisions for other companies or predict the choices that they might make in the future.”
Microsoft nannte als einen der Hauptgründe für den Kauf:
“We believe in the power of content to unite people”.
Weiter heißt es:
“Minecraft adds diversity to our game portfolio and helps us reach new gamers across multiple platforms. Gaming is the top activity across devices and we see great potential to continue to grow the Minecraft community and nurture the franchise. That is why we plan to continue to make Minecraft available across platforms–including iOS, Android and PlayStation, in addition to Xbox and PC.”
Markus „Notch“ Persson erklärte in einem Statement, warum er sein Studio an Microsoft verkaufte und warum er die Firma selber verlässt. Er sieht sich selber nicht als CEO, sondern als nerdigen Programmierer, der den Hype im Internet nicht mag und sich mehr zurückziehen will.
Im Folgenden das komplette Statement von ihm:
I don’t see myself as a real game developer. I make games because it’s fun, and because I love games and I love to program, but I don’t make games with the intention of them becoming huge hits, and I don’t try to change the world.
Minecraft certainly became a huge hit, and people are telling me it’s changed games. I never meant for it to do either. It’s certainly flattering, and to gradually get thrust into some kind of public spotlight is interesting.
A relatively long time ago, I decided to step down from Minecraft development. Jens was the perfect person to take over leading it, and I wanted to try to do new things.
At first, I failed by trying to make something big again, but since I decided to just stick to small prototypes and interesting challenges, I’ve had so much fun with work. I wasn’t exactly sure how I fit into Mojang where people did actual work, but since people said I was important for the culture, I stayed.
I was at home with a bad cold a couple of weeks ago when the internet exploded with hate against me over some kind of EULA situation that I had nothing to do with. I was confused. I didn’t understand. I tweeted this in frustration.
Later on, I watched the This is Phil Fish video on YouTube and started to realize I didn’t have the connection to my fans I thought I had. I’ve 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’m a nerdy computer programmer who likes to have 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 ever accidentally make something that seems to gain traction, I’ll probably abandon it immediately.
Considering the public image of me already is a bit skewed, I don’t expect to get away from negative comments by doing this, but at least now I won’t feel a responsibility to read them.
I’m aware this goes against a lot of what I’ve said in public. I have no good response to that. I’m also aware a lot of you were using me as a symbol of some perceived struggle. I’m not. I’m a person, and I’m right there struggling with you.
I love you. All of you. Thank you for turning Minecraft into what it has become, but there are too many of you, and I can’t be responsible for something this big.
In one sense, it belongs to Microsoft now. In a much bigger sense, it’s belonged to all of you for a long time, and that will never change.
It’s not about the money. It’s about my sanity.”
Das denken wir:
Notch macht meiner Meinung nach alles richtig. Er selber will weniger Hype um seine Person, kassiert nochmal ordentlich ab und konzentriert sich dann auf das, was er am liebsten macht – Spiele programmieren und nicht eine Firma führen. Meiner Meinung nach, gäbe es sicher bessere Käufer für Minecraft, aber die zahlen wohl nicht so gut wie Microsoft.
Quelle: Notch.net
