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WSJ: Mojang Could Be Worth $1 Billion

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Re: WSJ: Mojang Could Be Worth $1 Billion

#21

Post by Shivetya »

tterrace wrote: post #15

I just finished talking with a colleague whose six year old loves minecraft and I remember talking with a twelve year old who was similarly obsessed - to the point of knowing the patch numbers and all the details. The community which grew organically around this game is incredible, and that kind of peer-to-peer promotion is priceless.

and if you don't want to play it there are many people who stream their playing of this game.

I have used twitch.tv for perusing games I am interested in as well as screening games for my niece and nephew, usually I send a link to my sister and ask if the game is acceptable and would her kids enjoy that.

Re: WSJ: Mojang Could Be Worth $1 Billion

#22

Post by Laremere »

nightpool wrote: post #13
jiggy2011 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there was probably more evidence in favour of minecraft being a success. For example widespread popularity of lego and other various sandbox games. Minecraft is also relatively simple to understand, pick up and place blocks. I assume that 0x10c will have a much steeper learning curve. Though it was certainly a long shot that minecraft would be as popular as it is today, the question is whether lightning can s…

The cool thing is none of this was made for the profit or sales numbers. Notch makes games because he loves making games. In fact, it kinda seems like he's intentionally trying for a more obscure game, something to be niche with a strong community rather then wildly popular.

Ox10^c sounds like a game where Notch went "Ok, I have money and a fanbase which will pay attention if I make an obscure game, what game do I really want to play but wouldn't get approved in a million years by a publisher."

Re: WSJ: Mojang Could Be Worth $1 Billion

#23

Post by wcoenen »

ben0x539 wrote: post #16
dwerthen wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely the same thing could have been said about Minecraft, having little to no mass appeal, before it became a huge hit, no?

Lightning never strikes the same place twice, etc

I never got that analogy. Lightning will strike the same place over and over again[1], because that place has the least resistance for charge to flow between the clouds and the ground.

[1] http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/wea00/wea00354.htm

Re: WSJ: Mojang Could Be Worth $1 Billion

#24

Post by Harkins »

criley wrote: post #8
slmt wrote: post #3

It just goes to show that social proof is extremely powerful. 1. Create a really crap game that's not really a game. 2. Create a site with a bullshit stats page showing how many geeks are supposedly buying it and how fast. 3. Spam about it on geeky sites. 4. Watch all the geeks throw money at you as they try to prove that they are geeky enough by buying a sandbox game that they "totally get." Mojang, I salute you.

Wow, you could not have misread Mojang any worse. You must be intentionally obtuse here -- I refuse to believe that you're this ignorant. You feel like some washed up older guy pissed off that his idea didn't make it, content to sit and pooh-pooh anything else that comes by. "My idea was so great, but no, stupid little blocks is what idiots around the world want" is the vibe I get from you. "Crappy game" "bullshit st…

He can be wrong without being a personal failure driven by spite. Your comment is not so nice.

Re: WSJ: Mojang Could Be Worth $1 Billion

#27

Post by mbesto »

It takes 3,000 employees for Zynga Inc., ZNGA -0.38% the largest social-network game company in the world, to generate at least $150 million in annual operating profit.

From an office in Stockholm, a largely unknown company brought in more than half that sum. Its employee count: 29.

Ugh, this type of statement does a massive desservice to the programming service provider industry.

Re: WSJ: Mojang Could Be Worth $1 Billion

#28

Post by tterrace »

Shivetya wrote: post #21
tterrace wrote: post #15

I just finished talking with a colleague whose six year old loves minecraft and I remember talking with a twelve year old who was similarly obsessed - to the point of knowing the patch numbers and all the details. The community which grew organically around this game is incredible, and that kind of peer-to-peer promotion is priceless.

and if you don't want to play it there are many people who stream their playing of this game. I have used twitch.tv for perusing games I am interested in as well as screening games for my niece and nephew, usually I send a link to my sister and ask if the game is acceptable and would her kids enjoy that.

That was another thing he mentioned - his kid watches all the minecraft youtube videos too. I'm sure if you get bored of doing your own thing you can take a look at what other people are making and come away with a whole new perspective on how to play the game.

Re: WSJ: Mojang Could Be Worth $1 Billion

#29

Post by nicholassmith »

Minecraft isn't WoW (that's a good thing). WoW is pretty much aggressively targeted to make large amounts of money, which is why they're valued so high. Mojang seem to want to make things that are cool and fun, more than they want to set up large subscription bases, add on packs and so on. Could Mojang become a billion dollar company? Sure, maybe. Anything can happen. Is it a good comparison between them and Blizzard? I'd say no, they seem to have distinctly different goals.

You know what's cool, being a company that is happy making things rather than being a billion dollar company and dealing with the headaches of stock price related soothsaying.

Re: WSJ: Mojang Could Be Worth $1 Billion

#30

Post by buerkle »

mbesto wrote: post #27

It takes 3,000 employees for Zynga Inc., ZNGA -0.38% the largest social-network game company in the world, to generate at least $150 million in annual operating profit. From an office in Stockholm, a largely unknown company brought in more than half that sum. Its employee count: 29. Ugh, this type of statement does a massive desservice to the programming service provider industry.

And it ignores the thousands of people writing mods for minecraft.
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