Minecraft creator Notch: ‘Mojang’s grown too large for the indie label’
Jamie Donnelly July 31, 2012 - 7:05 pmNews: Mincraft creator Markus ‘Notch’ Persson is the founder of indie studio Mojang – but should we really be calling them indie, or are they, as Notch reckons, too large for that?
Indie has always been a strange label in the world of videogames, veering between its technical definition and a meaning that seems far more suitable – one that refers to small, ‘artsy’ studios rather than simply ones who are independent. Epic Games are indie, but don’t seem to encompass what indie actually means, while Journey developer thatgamecompany have always been quintessentially indie, but didn’t actually take the strict label until very recently.
Mojang founder and Minecraft creator Markus ‘Notch’ Persson seems to have the same problems, saying that while Mojang may still be independent, they’ve grown too large to fit the indie tag.
Speaking in an AMA on Reddit earlier today, Notch said: “‘Indie’ is a strange label. Technically, we are independent, but I don’t think we can call ourselves indie any more. We’ve grown too large for that. To me, the indie scene is a great counterpoint to big, boring franchises, and Minecraft is too large to be that.”
I actually think Notch is wrong on this one, as Minecraft’s story is one of indie success, starting as one of the little guys and growing to a point where it could take on those ‘big, boring franchises’ without ever actually losing what it was all about. As this AMA shows, Notch is still very hands-on with the fans, Minecraft is still very much about giving consumers what they want, and while Mojang may not be indie in size, they certainly are in spirit.
You can find everything there is to know about Mojang right here at BeefJack, including Notch’s admission that Minecraft was a “one in a million fluke” that isn’t likely to be replicated by the studio in the future.
