The Dark Downfall Of The Creator Of 'Minecraft'

Minecraft came out in 2011 and grew into such a gargantuan thing that Microsoft acquired it for over $2 billion a mere three years later. At that point, creator Markus "Notch" Persson stated he'd sold Minecraft not because of the money but to keep his sanity. That's probably the last somewhat relatable thing he'd ever tweet. Time to put on our heavy breathing equipment because it's time for a dive into the depths of Notch's shallow career. 

It's been a little over 10 years since Notch released Minecraft, so this would be a really cool time to celebrate all of his hallmarks since then, but, uh, those don't really exist, so maybe let's take a look into why that might be.

Though a fantastic game, Minecraft bears a keen resemblance to Infiniminer, a game that preceded Minecraft but ended up being completely overshadowed by the new, hotter model.

That's very interesting because Notch only ever released another title after he'd been injected with all the money that money could buy, a title by the name of Cliffhorse. It ... it isn't good. It feels less like a game and more like a sandbox where you get to experience life as a horse in a world without physics.

What's really cool about it is that, aside from the very nice-looking grass, this feels like a mod for Big Rigs that replaces the titular rigs with a regular horse.

Cliffhorse went on to make the equivalent of $100 in dogecoin, a number that, given the game's quality, sadly certifies it as yet another hit. Now, I'm pretty sure Notch could have done better if he'd put more effort into it, but it's pretty weird that this is the only thing he put out after finally getting the freedom and the funds to do whatever he wanted in game development. 

And before you get the weird idea that Notch is like the gaming equivalent of Crazy Town, that beautiful '00s nu-metal band that only got to have a huge hit because it took a riff out of one of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers' songs, I have to tell you that he's worse, actually. Cliffhorse wasn't the bottom for Notch. After the weird follow-up to the game that looked and played like the other game, he pivoted to just spewing racist and conspiratorial garbage on Twitter.

In 2017, Microsoft decided they couldn't take it any longer and cut all ties with Notch – yeah, that's the same Microsoft that would later try to absorb Activision, the vilest company in the history of gaming.

Top Image: Microsoft