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Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

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Re: Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

#71

Post by aw3c2 »

vaksel wrote: post #27
noodle wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i dunno about that. we're probably seeing one of his larger sales periods, as it enters into the mainstream from obscurity. it might continue to do well, but i'm skeptical that he'll be able to keep up the rate at which it is currently selling. either way, though, he's doing amazingly well for himself.

I think he'll be ok. Right now he is only selling to the early adopter crowd who doesn't mind the crappy graphics. Once he spends some money on graphic designers, he'll be able to get mainstream appeal. Once he has mainstream appeal, he can release it for the stores to sell. Which will boost his sales. But yeah...either way he has already made a ton of money off this game....at least a couple million. Which should gi…

I don't really see how you can "graphically improve" a game that is built around square voxel-like elements and pixel graphics.

He definitely nears market saturation quickly.

Re: Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

#72

Post by runjake »

aresant wrote: post #6

The most refreshing part of this story is that it's not about the Apple / Google / etc App stores. Shows that exceptional indie products can get huge traction on a traditional platform, sort of like Braid on XBOX / PC / etc. That said, also excites me for the future when MSFT's & Apple's standard OS come with a servicable app store baked in.

iOS basically is Apple's standard OS at this point. I wouldn't be surprised if Mac OS X was renamed to "iOS Development Environment" at the next WWDC.

It seems pretty clear that at some point iOS (and a desktop version of its touch paradigm) will be the future on Mac desktops.

Re: Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

#73

Post by msie »

nihilocrat wrote: post #39
aresant wrote: post #6

The most refreshing part of this story is that it's not about the Apple / Google / etc App stores. Shows that exceptional indie products can get huge traction on a traditional platform, sort of like Braid on XBOX / PC / etc. That said, also excites me for the future when MSFT's & Apple's standard OS come with a servicable app store baked in.

On a similar note, Minecraft is written in... get this ... Java Which seems to be the dorkiest and most uncool language on the planet if you were to ask HN.

Forget Valve or Bungie, pretty soon Oracle will come knockin' on his door. ;-)

Re: Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

#74

Post by lrm242 »

raganwald wrote: post #54
nihilocrat wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a similar note, Minecraft is written in... get this ... Java Which seems to be the dorkiest and most uncool language on the planet if you were to ask HN.

A plumber climbs out of a manhole, and his arms are covered with - guess what? - excrement! A beautiful little girl in a beautiful white dress happens to pass by. The plumber seizes the opportunity and quickly, but firmly sweeps his hands over the girl’s white dress. Little girl (appalled): AAAH!! Plumber (outraged): Oh yeah? I bet you love to take a shit though. http://www.yosefk.com/blog/the-cardinal-programming-jo…

The poop leaves my bottom and goes into the toilet. I never touch it. Do you?

Re: Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

#75

Post by simplegeek »

Amazing stuff. Honestly, when I saw this post I thought man I should have been a games programmer (and the desire to learn how to create games started to surface). Then, I went searching on Google and it seems that this guy has found his luck after working hard as a games programmer for around 10 years (http://www.mojang.com/notch/). After reading this, I smiled & felt happy for the programmer and went back working ;)

Re: Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

#76

Post by billybob »

raganwald wrote: post #54
nihilocrat wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a similar note, Minecraft is written in... get this ... Java Which seems to be the dorkiest and most uncool language on the planet if you were to ask HN.

A plumber climbs out of a manhole, and his arms are covered with - guess what? - excrement! A beautiful little girl in a beautiful white dress happens to pass by. The plumber seizes the opportunity and quickly, but firmly sweeps his hands over the girl’s white dress. Little girl (appalled): AAAH!! Plumber (outraged): Oh yeah? I bet you love to take a shit though. http://www.yosefk.com/blog/the-cardinal-programming-jo…

20 years later, the girl is still in therapy.

Re: Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

#77

Post by yesimahuman »

rwhitman wrote: post #50

The question is how long will it take major game developers to build a similar game and turn on the marketing faucet? I don't know much about game development, but it sounds like it would be a pretty easy game to replicate, right?

It's not just the game. The community surrounding it is so damn loyal and enthusiastic. Notch is a god to them.

Re: Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

#78

Post by jeff18 »

jokermatt999 wrote: post #60
aresant wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think Hollywood director type job offer. Use somebody else's money to build your dream product with a huge incredible staff. Get gauranteed, huge up front salary to do so. Take away a sizeable piece of the action on the success.

There's also the advantage of them taking care of the business side. Reading some of his recent updates seems to indicate that the past few weeks have been spent dealing with administrative duties like lawyers, servers, and hiring. Were he to take them up on their offer, that could all be taken care of for him, if we wanted (I'm guessing). I'm happy that he's decided to stay independent, but I think Valve could actua…

With just a few days of revenue, Notch could retain world class accountants, lawyers, and sys-admins for years. :)

Re: Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

#79

Post by enjo »

mwerty wrote: post #68
clistctrl wrote: post #14

I get the impression that this game was built because he wanted to build something he himself would enjoy, not something he could become rich off. Maybe there's something to that philosophy ;)

Survivorship bias.

Yep... after all, I can (anecdotally) point to a number of successful businesses in which the founders were simply trying to get rich.

Re: Minecraft creator banks $350k a day, turns down job offers from Valve and Bungie

#80

Post by NinetyNine »

vaksel wrote: post #27
noodle wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i dunno about that. we're probably seeing one of his larger sales periods, as it enters into the mainstream from obscurity. it might continue to do well, but i'm skeptical that he'll be able to keep up the rate at which it is currently selling. either way, though, he's doing amazingly well for himself.

I think he'll be ok. Right now he is only selling to the early adopter crowd who doesn't mind the crappy graphics. Once he spends some money on graphic designers, he'll be able to get mainstream appeal. Once he has mainstream appeal, he can release it for the stores to sell. Which will boost his sales. But yeah...either way he has already made a ton of money off this game....at least a couple million. Which should gi…

The real early adopters of Minecraft largely overlapped with the 8-bit/lo-fi enthusiast community, which consists of active forum goes and very connected social gamers. I think a lot of people overlook this when they comment about the graphics of the game; the ones that hold the most credence in gaming are the ones who have a nostalgia further back than anyone.
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