Minecraft: The Unlikely Tale of Markus Notch Persson and the Game that Changed Everything

by Daniel Goldberg

  A wizard’s castle and an eastern-style palace, with lava curtains activated on a day/night cycle. Built in survival mode on the Mindcrack server. By Arkas (www.youtube.com/arkasmc) and W92baj (www.youtube.com/w92baj)

  Fully functioning soda machine. Dispenses various cleverly named potions for the player. By SethBling (www.youtube.com/user/sethbling) (twitter.com/SethBling)

  An accurate, working guitar. The player plays individual notes or chords by fingering the correct frets and strumming. By SethBling (www.youtube.com/user/sethbling) (twitter.com/SethBling

  A fleet of ships traveling through space, part of a series of space-themed maps. By The VoxelBox (www.youtube.com/voxelboxvideos) (www.twitter.com/voxelbox)

  A shrine built in the fantasy world of Nefret’Mizir, influenced architecturally by Persian styles and colors. By The VoxelBox (www.youtube.com/voxelboxvideos) (www.twitter.com/voxelbox)

  A temple built to resemble “Notch,” the creator of Minecraft. Will dispatch various items to the player. By Disco (www.youtube.com/fvdisco)

  A fully playable Minecraft-remake of the classic ’90s video game Sonic the Hedgehog. By Disco (www.youtube.com/fvdisco)

  A modern-style manor built in a small valley. The design is based around straight lines and cubic forms, with lots of open windows to maximize light. By Aurelien Sama (www.youtube.com/user/AurelienSama) (twitter.com/Aurelien_Sama)

  An organic cathedral made out of mountains and trees. By Aurelien Sama (www.youtube.com/user/AurelienSama) (twitter.com/Aurelien_Sama)

  A volcano built on a tropical island, with several canyons and ravines. By Aurelien Sama (www.youtube.com/user/AurelienSama) (twitter.com/Aurelien_Sama)

  Herobrine’s mansion, a popular adventure map with boss fights and customized monsters. By Hypixel and Gazamo (www.hypixel.net)

  Herobrine’s Origins, an adventure map that uses redstone to present the player with challenges and puzzles. By Hypixel and Mithrintia (www.hypixel.net)

  Sources

  This book would not have been possible to write without the help of everyone who sat down with us for long, openhearted interviews. This story is based first and foremost upon the memories of Markus Persson, as well as on those of his family, friends, earlier employers, and coworkers, who have all taken time to speak with us. Thanks are in order to all of them.

  When possible, descriptions and statements in this book have been validated by several people. Where nothing else is indicated in the text, quotes and information come from one of these interviews, conducted during 2011 and 2012.

  Chapter 1. Three, Two, One . . .

  The information about MineCon comes mostly from our trip to the conference in November 2011, supplemented with interviews of employees at Mojang and others who were there. The event is furthermore well documented on the Internet. Innumerable YouTube clips have helped us to document what we missed when we were on-site. Information about the total numbers of visitors and such comes mainly from Mojang’s own documentation.

  Chapter 2. For Beginners

  The examples of impressive constructions in Minecraft all come from publicly available pictures and film clips on the Internet. There are too many of them on the web to mention. A search on YouTube will turn up the constructions we mention and many more.

  Chapter 3. “Do You Want Me to Feel Sorry

  for You or Something?”

  The information about Markus Persson’s childhood and youth comes mainly from interviews with Markus Persson, his family, and his coworkers. The documentary film Klassliv by Noomi Liljefors and Caroline Mörner, broadcast on Swedish television in 1998, tells of the high school class in Tumba where Markus Persson’s sister, Anna Hemming, went. The film helped us to describe the apartment in Salem and Anna’s teen years.

  Chapter 4. Games Worth Billions

  Numbers and statistics about the game industry come from the industry’s organization, ESA (Entertainment Software Association) as well as from the companies referenced. Statistics on the music industry come from their organization, IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry). For more facts, we recommend the Swedish video game industry trade group, Dataspelsbranschen, and their superb reports.

  Karl Magnus Troedsson, CEO at DICE, and Lars Markgren, CEO at Midasplayer, have both been interviewed about the game industry in general and their respective companies in particular.

  Chapter 5. “They Just Don’t Get It”

  Information about Markus Persson’s and Jakob Porser’s time at Midasplayer comes from interviews with them both and with people in their vicinity at the time. Rolf Jansson, Lars Markgren, and Markus’s wife, Elin Zetterstrand, have all contributed with their own memories of that period.

  Chapter 6. Macho Men with Big Guns

  Erik Svedäng, Nicklas Nygren, Jonatan Söderström, and Jens Bergensten have all been interviewed about the Swedish indie games scene and No More Sweden. The book The Ultimate History of Video Games, by Steven L. Kent, is a very thorough run-through of the early history of the games industry. Those who want to learn more about Swedish IT history are also encouraged to read our own nonfiction book, Svenska Hackare, published in Swedish by Norstedts förlag in 2011.

  Chapter 7. “This Is Way Too Much Fun. I Built a Bridge.”

  Information about the sources of inspiration behind Minecraft comes from interviews with Markus Persson. Zachary Barth, the creator of Infiniminer, was interviewed about his view of the game’s success. The early reactions to Minecraft were found in discussions on the TIGSource forum (forums.tigsource.com), where the first version of the game was released. Ritva Persson and Jakob Porser’s memories from that time have also been of great assistance.

  Chapter 8. The Hedonic Hot Spot of the Brain

  Quotes and information from Simone Kühn come partly from an interview with her and partly from her research report on video gamers and their brains. The report is titled, “The Neural Basis of Video Gaming” and is published on www.nature.com. In spite of the fact that it’s an academic paper intended for researchers, it’s also interesting reading for laymen.

  The book Trigger Happy by Steven Poole is an excellent introduction for those who are looking for a deeper understanding of computer games, and it has been of great help to us. It is now available as a download, free of charge, on stevenpoole.net. There is an abundance of more academically oriented books on the subject, for example, An Introduction to Game Studies by Frans Mäyrä. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi develops his theory of flow in, among others, the books Finding Flow and Beyond Boredom and Anxiety.

  Chapter 9. “Yes, You Should Buy This Game.”

  Numbers concerning sales of Minecraft come from Mojang’s own data. Via https://minecraft.net, you can follow the number of sold copies of the game in real time. Markus Persson’s visit to Valve in the United States was re-created with the help of his own, Elin Zetterstrand’s, and Jakob Porser’s recollections.

  Chapter 10. The Squid Situation

  The visit to Ljunggrens Restaurant has been described to us in interviews with those who were there. Scenes from Mojang’s office were recounted by, among others, Jens Bergensten, Carl Manneh, Jakob Porser, and Markus Persson. In addition, we’ve visited the space several times. During work on this book, Mojang began the move to a new office space in Zinkensdamm, Södermalm, Stockholm.

  Johan Brenner, a partner at the venture capital company Creandum, has been of great help with statistics on investments in Nordic IT companies. Per Strömbäck, spokesperson for the organization Dataspelsbranschen, has contributed thoughts about the Swedish gaming industry. The statement that developers are the most common profession among Stockholmers comes from the report “Yrkesstrukturen i Sverige 2009,” from Statistics Sweden.

  Concerning Swedish development of broadband, see the report “Broadband Quality Study,” from Cisco, published in 2010, and the report from Post-och telestyrelsen, “Bredbandskartläggning,” from 2011.

  Chapter 11. A Dilemma Concerning House Cats

 
The film clip showing the Starship Enterprise built in Minecraft, is at the time of writing, still on YouTube. In addition, there are a number of sequels, where you can see how the spaceship takes form.

  Information about the number of viewers of YouTube channels comes directly from www.YouTube.com and will probably have changed since the text was written. The same goes for how many times a certain film has been viewed, the number of tweets on Twitter, and so forth. Several contributions to the official blog YouTube Trends (YouTube-trends.blogspot.com) describe Google’s own analysis of the phenomenon. Comparison of the popularity of search words on Google.com can easily be found via Google Trends (www.google.se/trends).

  Alex Leavitt, SethBling, and David Pakman have all given interviews.

  Chapter 12. Too Many for Two Pizzas

  Interviews with Carl Manneh and Markus Persson have been the basis for re-creating the scenes from Game Developers Conference and E3. Lydia Winters was interviewed about her background, her view of Internet marketing, and the Minecraft phenomenon in general. Numbers concerning Mojang’s turnover and profit margin have been retrieved from the company’s yearly report.

  Chapter 13. More Than a Game

  Details of the founding of MinecraftEdu are based on interviews with Joel Levin, Santeri Koivisto, and their coworkers. Mojang has confirmed sales information regarding this special version of Minecraft. Mats Hultgren, at Svensk Byggtjänst, has elaborated on the ideas supporting the project in Fisksätra.

  Chapter 14. Becoming a LEGO

  Jakob Porser’s and Carl Manneh’s memories are the basis for re-creating the legal case between Mojang and ZeniMax. The episode was also covered extensively by the media, among others by the gaming website Kotaku. (kotaku.com). Rolf Jansson was interviewed concerning his view of the success of Minecraft and his relationship to Markus Persson today. Interviews with Jakob Porser, Carl Manneh, and Markus Persson have contributed to our discussion of Mojang’s present and future challenges.

  Chapter 15. “You Did It, Markus. You Really Did It.”

  The interview with James Green and Ken Klopp was done on-site in Las Vegas. Sudden Wealth Syndrome and the psychologists, Stephen Goldbart and Joan DiFuria, are described in a number of articles, most from the years around the turn of the millennium. For example, we recommend articles in The Economist and on www.sfgate.com. For more information about how lottery winners actually become happier, see for example the study Money and Mental Wellbeing: A Longitudinal Study of Medium-Sized Lottery Wins, from the University in Warwick, 2006 (www2.warwick.ac.uk).

  Chapter 16. Back to the Boys’ Room

  Markus Persson’s own thoughts about the future are the foundation for our discussion and for the scenes that are recounted in the chapter. Elin Zetterstrand has also been helpful by giving her view of life after Minecraft’s breakthrough.

  Ludography

  Below is a list of all the computer games that are mentioned in the book, giving title, platform, developer/publisher, and release year in chronological order.

  Spacewar! (PDP-1), Steve Russell, 1962.

  Pong (Arkad and others), Atari, 1972.

  Pac-man (Arkad and others), Namco, 1980.

  Donkey Kong (Arkad and others), Nintendo, 1981.

  Bomberman (MSX, NES, and others), Hudson, 1983.

  Tetris (C64/PC and others), Alexey Pajitnov, 1984.

  Boulder Dash (C64 and others), First Star Software, 1984.

  Duck Hunt (NES), Nintendo, 1984.

  Tales of the Unknown: Volume 1: The Bard’s Tale (C64/PC and others), Interplay/Electronic Arts, Ariolasoft, 1985.

  Gauntlet (Arkad and others), Atari, 1985.

  Super Mario Bros. (NEX), Nintendo, 1985.

  Saboteur (C64 and others), Clive Townsend, Steve Ruddy/Durrell, 1985.

  The Legend of Zelda (NES), Nintendo, 1986.

  Final Fantasy (NES), Square, 1987.

  Herzog Zwei (Megadrive), Technosoft, 1989.

  Minesweeper (PC), Microsoft, 1990.

  Nibbles (PC), Rick Raddatz/Microsoft, 1991.

  Day of the Tentacle (PC/Mac), LucasArts, 1993.

  Doom (PC and others), id Software, 1993.

  Puzzle Bobble (Arkad/Neo Geo), Taito, 1994.

  Full Throttle (PC/Mac), LucasArts, 1995.

  Dungeon Keeper (PC/Mac), Bullfrog/Electronic Arts, 1997.

  Half-Life (PC/PS2), Valve/Sierra, 1998.

  Grim Fandango (PC), LucasArts, 1998.

  Counter-Strike (PC/Xbox), Valve, 1999.

  Quake 3 Arena (PC and others) id Software/Activision 1999

  Mall Maniacs (PC), UDS/Addgames, 1999

  RollerCoaster Tycoon (PC/Xbox), Chris Sawyer Productions/Hasbro, 1999.

  Unreal Tournament (PC/PS2/Dreamcast), Epic Games, Digital Extremes/GT Interactive, 1999.

  Europa Universalis (PC), Paradox, 2001.

  Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox and others), Bungie/Microsoft, 2001.

  Max Payne (PC/PS2/Xbox), Remedy/Gathering of Developers and others, 2001.

  Battlefield 1942 (PC/Mac), DICE/Electronic Arts and others, 2002.

  Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell (PC/Mac/Xbox/Gamecube/PS2 and others), Ubisoft/Ubisoft and others, 2002.

  Call of Duty (PC/Mac and others), Infinity Ward/Activision, 2003.

  Far Cry (PC), Crytek/Ubisoft, 2004.

  Half-Life 2 (PC/Mac/Xbox/Xbox 360/PS3), Valve, 2004.

  World of Warcraft (PC/Mac), Blizzard, 2004.

  Hearts of Iron (PC), Paradox, 2004.

  Motherload (PC/mac), XGen Studios, 2004.

  Chronicles of Riddick: Excape from Butchers Bay (PC/Xbox), Starbreeze/Vivendi, 2004.

  Psychonauts (PC/Xbox/PS2), Double Fine/Majesco, THQ, 2005.

  Peter Jackson’s King Kong (PS2/Gamecube/Xbox/Xbox 360/PC and others), Ubisoft, 2005.

  Narbacular Drop (PC), Nuclear Monkey Software/DigiPen, 2005.

  Knytt (PC), Nicklas Nygren, 2006.

  Just Cause (PC/PS2/Xbox/Xbox 360), Avalanche/Eidos, 2006.

  Gears of War (Xbox/PC), Epic Games/Microsoft, 2006.

  Slaves of Armok: God of Blood Chapter II: Dwarf Fortress (PC/Mac/Linux), Tarn Adams/Bay 12 Games, 2006.

  Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (PC and others), Grin/Ubisoft, 2006.

  Wurm Online (PC/Mac/Linux), Code Club, 2006.

  Team Fortress 2 (PC and others), Valve, 2007.

  Knytt Stories (PC), Nicklas Nygren, 2007.

  The Darkness (PS3/Xbox 360), Starbreeze/2Kgames, 2007.

  Clean Asia! (PC), Jonatan Söderström, 2007.

  Burn the Trash (PC), Jonatan Söderström, 2007.

  Portal (PC/Mac/PS3/Xbox 360), Valve, 2007

  Blueberry Garden (PC), Erik Svedäng, 2008.

  Spore Origins (Ios and others), Tricky Software/Electronic Arts, 2008.

  Shotgun Ninja (PC), Jonatan Söderström, 2008.

  You Have to Knock the Penis (PC), Petri Purho & Erik Svedäng, 2008.

  Stench Mechanics (PC and others), Cactus, 2008.

  Harvest: Massive Encounter (PC/Mac), Oxeye, 2008.

  Blast Passage (Web) Markus Persson, 2008.

  Fat Princess (PS3/PSP), Titan Studios/Sony, 2009.

  Battlefield Heroes (Web), DICE, Easy Studios/Electronic Arts, 2009.

  Assassin’s Creed II (PC/Mac/Xbox 360/PS3), Ubisoft, 2009

  Angry Birds (iPhone, Android, and others), Rovio/Chillingo, 2009.

  Bionic Commando (PC/PS3/Xbox 360), Grin/Capcom, 2009.

  Infiniminer (PC), Zachary Barth, 2009.

  Wanted: Weapons of Fate (PC/PS3/Xbox 360), Grin, 2009.

  Planeto (Web), Planeto, 2009.

  Farmville (Web), Zynga, 2009.

  Shot Shot Shoot (iPad), Erik Svedäng, 2010.

  Gran Turismo 5 (PS3), Polyphony Digital/Sony, 2010.

  Alan Wake (Xbox 360/PC), Remedy/Microsoft and others, 2010.

  StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (PC/Mac), Blizzard Entertainment, 2010.

  Just Cause 2 (PC/PS3/Xbox 360/ and others), Avalanche/Eidos, 2010.

&nbs
p; Battlefield 3 (PC/Xbox 360/PS3), DICE/Electronic Arts, 2011.

  At a Distance (PC/Mac), Distractionware, 2011.

  Keyboard Drumset Fucking Werewolf (PC/Mac), Jonatan Söderström, 2011.

  The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim (PC/PS3/Xbox 360), Bethesda, 2011.

  Cobalt (PC), Oxeye/Mojang, 2011.

  AirMech (PC), Carbon Games, 2012.

  Closure (PC/Mac/PS3), Eyebrow Interactive, 2012.

  Thanks

  Many thanks to everyone who graciously gave us the time to be interviewed, helping us piece this story together. Without you, this book would never have happened. Thanks also to Stefan Skog at Norstedts, for endless patience and enthusiasm; John Hagström, for brutal but well-meaning honesty; Dan Simon and Jesse Lichtenstein at Seven Stories; Jennifer Hawkins for her translation; Thomas Arnroth, for insightful comments; Mikael Hall, for office space; and to Deniz Kaya and Anna Silberstein, because you haven’t left us yet.

  Translator's Thanks

  The translator would like to thank eleven-year-old Nicklas Lumiere for initiating her personally into the world of Minecraft. It was an enlightening journey. Kim MacKay was indispensible as reader and giver of great advice.

  About the Authors

  Daniel Goldberg and Linus Larsson are two of Sweden’s best-known writers on new technology and the internet. Their first book Svenska Hackare, a nonfiction account of the Scandinavian hacker scene and phenomena such as The Pirate Bay, was published in spring 2011 to critical acclaim.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: Three, Two, One . . .

  Chapter 2: For Beginners