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

Post by jasonlotito » Thu, Sep 30, 2010, 1:21 AM UTC

sshumaker wrote: post #138

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.

I'm not sure 'huge traction' is really accurate. While this is definitely serious cash for an individual, most successful big-budget games earn orders of magnitude more. And with AAA budgets approaching 100mm, you couldn't sustain even a small team on these profits. Notch - please don't blow your money on trying to rent a fancy office and hire a lot of people. You'll be surprised at how quickly that money goes.

Post by jasonlotito » Thu, Sep 30, 2010, 1:30 AM UTC

guynamedloren wrote: post #105

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.

I think you're missing something here... The entire reason Minecraft is so successful is because there IS NO HUGE INCREDIBLE STAFF. The game spawned from the thoughts, dreams, and abilities of just a single mind. Add more minds and the game becomes something it was never intended to be.

Post by swannodette » Thu, Sep 30, 2010, 1:48 AM UTC

Dove wrote: post #159

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.

Color me unsurprised. I dislike Java as much as the next person, but for a certain class of problems -- particularly in game programming -- it is a tool I often reach for. Java is a painfully verbose language that does not trust me with any power tools. When I work in it I wind up cursing its name approximately twice per hour. But the combination of Extreme Portability and Libraries For Absolutely Everything and mayb…

Post by knotty66 » Thu, Sep 30, 2010, 1:54 AM UTC

metamemetics wrote: post #152

SwellJoe wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate Java and I haven't done any game development since I was a kid, and I thought, "Hmm...I should check that out!"

If you hate Java check out SFML: Simple Fast Multimedia Library It's in C\C++\.NET but also has bindings for Python, D, and Ruby. http://www.sfml-dev.org If you want to do 3D but aren't up for writing OpenGL, check out OGRE3D. Open-source and former Diablo 2 developers from Bizzard North released a game called Torchlight with it recently. http://www.ogre3d.org/

Post by po » Thu, Sep 30, 2010, 2:29 AM UTC

sshumaker wrote: post #138

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.

I'm not sure 'huge traction' is really accurate. While this is definitely serious cash for an individual, most successful big-budget games earn orders of magnitude more. And with AAA budgets approaching 100mm, you couldn't sustain even a small team on these profits. Notch - please don't blow your money on trying to rent a fancy office and hire a lot of people. You'll be surprised at how quickly that money goes.