Digital Media Concepts/Markus Perrson

Markus Persson
Markus Persson
	Persson at 2011 Game Developers Conference
Born	Markus Alexej Persson; June 1, 1979 (age 45); Stockholm, Sweden
Occupation	Video game developer,
Known for	co-founder of Mojang;

Markus Alexej Persson (born June 1 1979, Stockholm, Sweden) also known as Notch, is a Swedish video game developer. Persson is most notably known for creating one of the most popular video game Minecraft as well as founding the video game company Mojang.

Early Life

On June 1, 1979, Persson was born to a Swedish father and Finnish mother in Stockholm, Sweden, but grew up in Edsbyn for seven years before moving back to Stockholm with his family. In his early years, Persson had an affinity for Legos and spent his free time building, however, when his father brought home a Commodore 128 computer, Persson found himself writing computer code by the age of seven.^[1] By the time Persson was eight years old, he had already written his first computer program which was a text-based adventure game.

Education

Persson did not finish high school, however, he had taught himself how to program code ever since his father brought home the Commodore. Due to his new affinity for programming, his mother urged him to take an online class to further sharpen his new talent. In doing so, this led to him landing a placement in a programming job at the age of 18 and after multiple jobs, he got a position in the company Midasplayer which eventually would later be known as King.com the company responsible for creating the hit mobile game Candy Crush.

Early Career

In 2005, Persson would join Midasplayer, later known as King.com for four years. At Midasplayer, Persson would eventually make friends with Jakob Porser, a fellow developer. The two of them would write their own games however this was distracting them from doing their job, something that the higher-ups didn't like. In May 2009, Persson would leave his full-time position at Midasplayer for a part-time position at jAlbum to further spend his time creating games. One of his creation would eventually be known as the hit popular sandbox game Minecraft.

Minecraft

What started out as a part of his hobby would eventually transpire into an international smash hit. Minecraft became one of the most popular video game in history and the height of Persson's career. Minecraft is a simple building and crafting game where players had the freedom to make whatever they want. In its early years, it started to gain traction with 400 copies being sold per day for just six dollars. This would then prompt Persson and Porser to co-found the company Mojang and start branding Minecraft under it. Although its first release was on PC, Minecraft made its way to other platforms such as Android, IOS, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Playstation 3, Playstation 4, and many more. By October 2014, the title was sold over 60 million copies across many platforms, making it listed as one of the best-selling video games of all times, on Xbox 360 it had 12 million units sold and on computers, 17 million units were sold. The company made around $230 million and in time this lead to Persson selling and leaving the company. To this year, Minecraft has sold 176 million copies worldwide.^[2]

Due to the high success of Minecraft, Persson was left feeling burning out and on Twitter, June 2014, he tweeted out that "Anyone want to buy my share of Mojang so I can move on with my life?". In September 2014, the company Microsoft would acquire Mojang along with Minecraft for $2.5 billion. Persson would eventually retire from Mojang along with Carl Mannen and Jakob Porser. Persson would also give off the development of the game to his colleague and friend, Jens Bergensten.^[3] With the money from acquisition deal with Microsoft, Persson would buy a $70 million 23,000-square-foot home in Trousdale Estates, Beverly Hills, California on December 2014.

Personal Life

Persson spent his time creating video games. He also participated in various coding competition such as Jave 4k Game Programming Contest, and LD12. One notable competition was Ludum Dare 48-hour game-making contests where created Breaking the Tower, Metagun, Prelude of the Chambered, and Minicraft. After selling Mojang and Minecraft, he now spends his time partying.^[4]

Family

Persson was born to a Swedish father, Birger, who was a railway employee and to a Finnish mother, Ritva, who worked as a nurse. In December 2011, his father committed suicide and Persson was left saddened, on his Tumblr account he wrote and posted a letter dedicated to his father.

On August 13, 2011, he marries Elin Zetterstrand, however, this marriage was shortlived as they separated on August 15, 2012.

Other Works

One of Persson's other work was 0x10c, a sandbox science-fiction game, however, this game was shelved due to lack of interest. In 2012, he also developed was Wurm Online, a 3D MMORPG, along with Rolf Jansson. Persson no longer works on Wurm Online. Lastly, another game Persson developed was Scrolls, a strategy card game. Persson and Lakoc Proser developed the game using the Unity game engine.

Awards and Nominations

With the success of Minecraft, Persson won three awards at the Game Developers Choice Awards for Best Debut Game Award, Innovation Award, and Best Downloadable Game Award in 2011. Additionally, it has also won him another award in 2011 at the Independent Game Festival one for Audience Award and another for Seumas McNally Grand Prize. At the 2012 Golden Joystick Awards, Persson was yet again awarded for the success of Minecraft for winning the Best Downloadable Game.

Controversies

On March 28, 2019, in an update for Minecraft has removed any references to Markus Persson due to his behavior on social media. Although he is still credited in the credits of the game, Persson's comments and opinions on Twitter on certain issues were problematic and controversial.^[5] These comments included transphobic remarks against "heterosexual pride day," as well as that "it's ok to be white."