March 23, 2023

The history of the creation of Minecraft

I conducted research on the history of the creation of Minecraft by examining seven sources, including Wikipedia, gaming websites, a biography, and a Reddit AMA with Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft. There was a consensus among the sources about the key events and milestones during Minecraft's development. The sources were closely related to the original query, and I am confident in the accuracy of the information gathered from these sources.

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Markus Persson and the Inspiration for Minecraft

Markus Alexej Persson, also known as Notch, is a Swedish video game programmer and designer who is best known for creating the sandbox video game Minecraft. In 2009, Persson found inspiration in Infiniminer, a block-based open-ended mining game, which led to the development of Minecraft. Before working on Minecraft, Persson had experience developing games such as Wurm Online, which he referred to as a "Minecraft precursor".

Development and Release of Minecraft

Minecraft was first developed by Persson in his spare time while working at jAlbum.net, a photo-sharing website. Minecraft Classic, the game's first developmental release, was made public on May 17, 2009, on TIGSource Forums. Throughout 2009 and 2010, Persson released several new versions of Minecraft, including Survival Test, Indev, and Infdev. On June 30, 2010, the game's Alpha version was released. Sales of Minecraft skyrocketed, leading Persson to quit his job at jAlbum.net to focus on further development.

Mojang and the Expansion of Minecraft

In December 2010, Persson founded the video game company Mojang to develop Minecraft into the beta phase. Minecraft was released from beta testing to the full version on November 18, 2011. Jens 'Jeb' Bergensten joined Mojang to take over full creative control of Minecraft and replaced Persson as the lead designer. Mojang continued to develop Minecraft, with updates automatically distributed to owners of the game, including new blocks, game mechanics, game modes, and bug fixes.

Persson's Departure and Controversies

In June 2014, Persson tweeted about selling his share of Mojang, partly as a joke. Later that year, Persson sold the company to Microsoft for $2.5 billion. Since leaving Mojang, Persson has been accused of homophobia, sexism, racism, transphobia, and supporting far-right and white nationalist ideas. Microsoft has removed references to Persson from Minecraft and denounced his views, and he was not invited to the game's tenth anniversary celebration.

Current State of Minecraft

Minecraft has become the best-selling video game of all time, with many different variants for almost every platform imaginable, including Minecraft: Pocket Edition, Minecraft Bedrock Edition, Minecraft: Story Mode, Minecraft Earth, Minecraft: Dungeons, Minecraft: Legacy Console Editions, and Minecraft: Education Edition. The game continues to be updated and expanded, with new content and features available to players.

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Research

"https://www.gamereactor.eu/minecraft-a-complete-history/"

  • Minecraft was inspired by earlier titles like Infiniminer, Dwarf Fortress and Dungeon Keeper. It provided a similar gameplay experience of digging and gathering materials, without as much emphasis on the story or quest.
  • Markus Persson, also known as “Notch”, first began developing Minecraft in his spare time while working at jAlbum.net, a photo-sharing website.
  • Minecraft Classic’s first developmental release was on May 17, 2009, released on TIGSource Forums as a public opinion.
  • With the help of feedback from others, Notch upgraded and improved the game consistently, introducing new features like survival and mobs.
  • In 2010, Minecraft went to the next level as it was in Alpha, with sales skyrocketing beyond anyone’s expectations. This led Notch to quit his job and focus entirely on the game. This newfound focus on the title meant even more updates which included new items, blocks, mobs, and even the crafting system we all recognize.
  • On December 11, 2010, Notch created Mojang and employed a bunch of skilled programmers to help make his game even better, which ultimately meant on December 20 it was ready to head to Beta.
  • Throughout 2011, Mojang consistently put out updates to Minecraft’s live server, introducing more content, new server hosts, and even an entire endgame feature, challenging players to defeat the powerful Ender Dragon.
  • Minecraft became so successful at this point that Mojang felt they could successfully release Minecraft: Pocket Edition on Android phones on August 16, with iOS systems following on November 17, making mobile the second platform the game breached.
  • On December 1, 2011, Notch was replaced by Jens “Jeb” Bergensten as the lead designer of the game, at which point he lost full creative control of Minecraft.
  • In 2012, 4J Studios developed a version of the game that was playable on Xbox 360, which launched on Microsoft’s old-gen console on May 12, where it headlined the Xbox Live Arcade NEXT promotion. The game’s continued presence on Sony’s platforms is actually pretty noteworthy as Microsoft and Sony usually don’t work together.
  • Long-time fans will remember ‘The Update That Changed The World’ that brought new biomes and a host of new features such as horses to the Java edition of the game in 2013.
  • In 2014, Microsoft acquired Mojang and all their intellectual property in a deal worth $2.5 billion USD, paving the

"https://theglobalgaming.com/minecraft/history-of-minecraft"

  • Minecraft is a resource management simulation game that involves mining, crafting, and exploring.
  • Minecraft has been critically acclaimed and hailed as the best-selling PC game of all time.
  • Markus ‘Notch’ Persson created Minecraft while working at King and jAlbum game development in 2011.
  • Initially, Notch created RubyDung, a base-building game influenced by Dwarf Fortress.
  • Taking inspiration from Infiniminer, Notch established a first-person perspective and blocky aesthetic, and in May 2009, he created the initial Minecraft edition, Minecraft Java Edition.
  • Minecraft Java Edition was initially released to private playtesters on TigIRC on May 16th, 2009, and then to the public the next day.
  • Once Minecraft Classic had its official release, developmental updates followed, with the first significant game update, ‘Minecraft Alpha,’ being released on June 30th, 2010.
  • The sales of Minecraft skyrocketed, and Notch quit his job at jAlbum.net to focus on the further development of Minecraft.
  • Minecraft continued to be updated, and Notch founded Mojang to develop Minecraft into the beta phase.
  • Minecraft was released from beta testing to the full version on November 18th, 2011.
  • Jens ‘Jeb’ Bergensten came into Mojang to take over full creative control of Minecraft and would replace Notch as the lead designer.
  • Mojang further developed Minecraft, with updates being automatically distributed to owners of the game (including new blocks, game mechanics, game modes, and bug fixes).
  • Minecraft has many different variants for almost every platform imaginable, including Minecraft: Pocket Edition, Minecraft Bedrock Edition, Minecraft: Story Mode, Minecraft Earth, Minecraft: Dungeons, Minecraft: Legacy Console Editions, and Minecraft: Education Edition.
  • Minecraft Bedrock Edition was developed in 2011, coded in the C++ programming language, and has broader playability than Minecraft Java Edition.
  • Minecraft Story Mode is a spinoff point-and-click adventure game styled as an interactive story with a linear storyline based on the Minecraft character ‘Steve.’
  • Minecraft Earth was released in 2019 and was designed for virtual reality (VR) capable consoles and mobiles, using augmented reality elements to allow players to construct in real-time around them, then let them explore their creations.
  • Minecraft Dungeons is a dungeon-crawler semi-top-down game developed in 2020 that uses isolated dungeons and enemies to give the game a fresh take, concentrating on fighting skeletons and zombies rather than

"https://gamerant.com/minecraft-timeline-history/"

  • Minecraft is a sandbox video game owned by Mojang Studios, which was developed and published by Markus Persson.
  • The game came out in 2009 and has become a well-known game around the world.
  • The game’s objective is to survive in a wild environment, where the player builds structures for protection, to collect resources, and to thrive in the environment.
  • The world of Minecraft is set in a 3D space where the player can destroy any units of materials in the environment represented as cubes on a tightly packed grid.
  • Minecraft’s survival mechanics have been enhanced over the years through a litany of updates and other platforms and spin-offs.
  • In the beginning, Minecraft was known as “Cave Game” to creator Notch, and it was nothing more than a builder with a few block types.
  • Eventually, Classic was given a multiplayer mode for players to show off their creations, and more blocks were slowly added to the game, giving players more flexibility.
  • In June of 2010, Minecraft finally made it to an Alpha build, where Redstone and an independent launcher was introduced.
  • The multiplayer mode was enhanced with more objects over the course of the year until it reached Beta stage in December.
  • The Beta stage continued to add content that gave the game beds, maps, weather, hunger, experience, generated structures, and much more over the years.
  • The final update for Beta, known as the Adventure Update, set the groundwork for Version 1.0 to add The End, which finally gave Minecraft a boss fight and a way to finish the game.
  • On November 18, 2011, Minecraft finally moves out of Beta and into the 1.0 build.
  • After the game became a solidified game, Mojang immediately moved to begin porting the game to other operating systems and consoles.
  • Between 2011 and 2020, there were 16 major updates that represent the bulk of the changes that Mojang has made to Minecraft.
  • Version 1.1 released in early 2012, adding spawn eggs and reintroducing the beach biome.
  • March 2012 saw the release of Version 1.2, which added new jungle blocks, iron golems, and zombie sieges.
  • Version 1.3 introduced trading with villagers through emeralds and added pyramids in biomes.
  • Version 1.4 added many things, including the Wither boss and the anvil, which repaired enchanted items, and was the first named update

"explain minecraft."

Not used in article

"en-us - Minecraft"

Not used in article

"I am Markus Persson aka Notch, Creator of Minecraft - Ask me Anything!"

  • Notch created Minecraft in June 2009, and worked on it alone until late 2010 when Mojang was established.
  • He left the lead developer position in December 2011.
  • Notch enjoys house music and programming and his favorite color is purple.
  • He asks Reddit users to donate to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
  • Many Reddit users asked Markus Persson various questions during a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) in 2012.
  • Reddit users shared links to images, and others commented on them.
  • One Reddit user shared a link to the Minecraft YouTube community and asked whether Notch watches any Minecraft YouTubers.
  • Another Reddit user asked whether any big company tried to buy Minecraft or Mojang entirely.
  • Notch said Valve had tried to hire him, but he and the Mojang team had declined offers from other companies to buy Minecraft or Mojang.
  • A Reddit user asked whether Notch had gotten bored of Minecraft and if that was why he left the lead developer position.
  • Notch replied that he did not get bored but wanted to move on to other things, and that he missed Minecraft about a month after leaving his lead developer position.
  • Many users asked questions about Minecraft development and Notch’s personal life.
  • Markus Persson mentioned that the Minecraft team managed to properly split client from server.
  • He was also excited about Adventure mode and said he was looking forward to more competitive gameplay.
  • Some Reddit users provided feedback on Java and C++, and Notch mentioned liking Java for its hot code swapping in debug mode.
  • Other Reddit users commented on how they found the conversation on the thread entertaining or interesting.
  • Some users expressed admiration for Markus Persson and Minecraft.
  • Others shared amusing anecdotes about Minecraft experiences.
  • There were numerous comments on the thread and Notch thanked everyone for their questions.

"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markus_Persson"

  • Markus Alexej Persson, also known as Notch, is a Swedish video game programmer and designer.
  • Persson is best known for creating the sandbox video game Minecraft, which has since become the best-selling video game of all time, and for founding the video game company Mojang in 2009.
  • Persson began developing video games at an early age, making games both professionally and in his spare time for much of his life.
  • He reached massive critical success for his release of Minecraft in 2009, which sold ten million copies by 2011.
  • After struggling with the sudden fame of Minecraft’s massive success, Persson sold the company to Microsoft for $2.5 billion in 2014 and took a step back from the public eye.
  • Since leaving Mojang, Persson founded a gaming company, Rubberbrain, but the studio has yet to release any games.
  • Persson expressed interest in creating a new video game studio in 2020, and in developing virtual reality games.
  • Persson has criticized both piracy and the stance of large game companies on piracy; additionally, he is a member of the Pirate Party of Sweden.
  • He is an atheist and has been outspoken on social media about his political and social opinions.
  • Since at least as early as 2016, Persson has been accused of homophobia, sexism, racism, transphobia, and supporting far-right and white nationalist ideas.
  • Microsoft has removed references to Persson from Minecraft and denounced his views, and he was not invited to the game’s tenth anniversary celebration.
  • Persson was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to a Finnish mother and a Swedish father on 1 June 1979.
  • He grew up in Edsbyn until age 7, before his family moved back to Stockholm. His father worked for the railroad and his mother was a nurse.
  • Persson lost contact with his father for several years after his parents divorced when he was around age seven.
  • According to Persson, his father suffered from depression, bipolar disorder, alcoholism, and medication abuse, and went to jail for robberies.
  • Persson had gained interest in video games at an early age, and his father taught him how to use the family’s Commodore 128.
  • By 1994, Persson knew he wanted to become a video game developer.
  • Persson started his career working as a web designer, then found employment at Game Federation where he met Rolf Jansson.
  • The pair

"https://www.biography.com/business-leaders/markus-persson"

  • Markus Persson was writing computer code from an early age and had taught himself how to write code ever since his dad gave him the Commodore 128 computer.
  • He never finished high school but had been bolstering his natural talent for programming with an online programming course.
  • At 18, he landed a programming job with Midasplayer, later known as King.com, a company known for such popular titles as Candy Crush.
  • It was at Midasplayer where Persson befriended Jakob Porsér, a developer and a friendship that would redefine Persson’s life path, as the duo started writing their own games and pursued independent game development.
  • Persson left Midasplayer for jAlbum in 2009 and began spending all his free time creating games with Porsér. Persson would write his first big game, Minecraft, in just a week, and it was rushed so he could simply get to the next one.
  • Minecraft’s success was a phenomenon, with 400 copies selling per day for about six dollars per download, despite Persson pushing the game before he even considered it finished.
  • That success ended both Persson’s and Porsér’s life of working for other people, and they decided to start their own company, Mojang (which means gadget in Swedish).
  • Minecraft moved about 20,000 downloads in its first year, but by the end of the next year, it was often getting that many downloads per day.
  • Minecraft became a community as much as a game, with a huge and ever-growing community of players.
  • Persson was the witty, often cantankerous mayor of that community, and with a large online presence (known widely as Notch or xNotch), he became a gaming superstar.
  • Unfortunately, Persson’s success was tempered with tragedy, as in December 2011, his father committed suicide, and his short marriage to Elin Zetterstrand came to an end a half a year after.
  • In May 2012, Minecraft’s Xbox release sold more than a million units in the first week alone, adding to the game’s popularity.
  • That year, Mojang had around $230 million in sales, with Minecraft becoming an international smash hit.
  • Two years later, Persson was getting burned out, and a tweet he sent out in June 2014 — “Anyone want to buy my share of Mojang so I can move on with my life?” — made his phone ring off the hook.
  • In September 2014

"https://www.techradar.com/news/the-history-of-minecraft"

  • Minecraft was created by Markus ‘Notch’ Persson in 2009.
  • Professor Pierre Dillenbourg praised the game for its creative and educational potential.
  • Persson had previously worked on games such as Wurm Online, which he referred to as a “Minecraft precursor.”
  • Infiniminer was the inspiration for Minecraft’s blocky structure.
  • Persson had started working on a first-person game, named RubyDung, inspired by Dwarf Fortress, Dungeon Keeper, and Rollercoaster Tycoon.
  • Persson was working on introducing a first-person view into RubyDung, but he was not satisfied with the results. Then he found Infiniminer.
  • Even the first version of Minecraft, coded in Java, is immediately identifiable today.
  • In 2009, the earliest multiplayer tests of Minecraft were underway, and the speed of development picked up even further.
  • Development quickly moved towards a paid Alpha version, which required a premium account for access.
  • Minecraft’s Creeper-toting survival mode began testing, which turned Minecraft from a neat toy into a game.
  • Minecraft’s official release, version 1.0, introduced The End and marked the end of Notch’s lead role on the project.
  • Persson moved on to other development projects after creative block caused his first major follow-up project, 0x10c, to fizzle out.
  • Shortly after the official release of Minecraft, the team behind multiplayer mod Bukkit joined the Mojang team, allowing for further improvements to the multiplayer experience and mod API development.
  • Minecraft’s Minecraft Pocket Edition was created to foster Minecraft’s growing scene of modders and to expand the game’s net into the rising smartphone market.
  • The complex overheads of Java were an impediment on every platform and so Minecraft Pocket Edition was coded in C++.
  • Minecraft Pocket Edition brought Minecraft to Android and iOS. The pocket edition was ported to WiiU, Windows10, Samsung’s GearVR, and Apple TV and beyond.
  • The Minecraft Java Edition continues development under its own internal team. Different mods extend the game in different ways.
  • Minecraft’s formula has translated perfectly to touch controls.
  • Minecraft has grown into a bigger empire, with toys and branded merchandise flooding the shelves, hitting the world record for largest convention for a single videogame, and a growing popularity with kids.
  • An Education Edition building on the creative and problem-solving aspects of Minecraft launched in 2016, which made Minecraft popular with young people and adults.
  • The Bedrock Engine

💭  Looking into

The factors that contributed to the success of Minecraft

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The background and motivation of Markus Persson in creating Minecraft

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The evolution of Minecraft from its inception to its official release