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’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.
Although it’s sure to disappoint many Minecraft fans, Notch’s description of his journey since the release of Minecraft is an intriguing one. While many budding indie developers can only dream of reaching the huge levels of success Notch has experienced, it comes at a price. Notch hasn’t directly been involved with the development of Minecraft for some time so it’s not likely to cause any big problems with the games future, but it’s still sad to see a creator leave behind their creation.
Source: MMORPG