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Mojang Reassures Minecraft Fans About Microsoft Deal

Mojang reassures Minecraft fans about Microsoft deal



The boss of Minecraft-maker Mojang has reassured fans worried about what will happen when Microsoft takes over.



In mid September, Microsoft announced a deal worth $2.5bn to acquire Mojang.



Vu Bui is the chief operating officer at Mojang. He said that there were no plans to change the game or limit what people can do.



He said that feedback from players would still be important in helping to improve the game.



"Nothing's really going to change," stated Mr Bui. We don't plan on anything changing.



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Mojang wanted to keep the original spark that made the game popular, he stated.



He said, "Maintaining the original culture is really hard." It's a culture that respects the community and allows them to do what they like with the game.



"It is absolutely the intention, as it has always been, to continue with this," he said to the BBC during a BBC interview at London's Olympia exhibition center, where he was giving a keynote address at the Brand Licensing Europe trade fair.



Mr Bui acknowledged that the deal was "still in the works" but said Mojang's intention was to keep working closely with its huge community of players.



Many fans of block-building have expressed concerns about what might happen if Microsoft gets the final say.



Markus Persson aka Notch, the Minecraft inventor, wrote about his reasons for approaching Microsoft. He stated that he was giving it over because it had become too burdensome for him to run.



"I can't be responsible for something this big," he wrote soon after details of the deal were announced.



"It's not about the money," he added. "It's all about my sanity."



Bui said that while there will undoubtedly be changes in future, they would still be made with the input and feedback of fans.



The current system would continue, where Minecraft developers can share what they are doing long before it is added into the game.



He stated that "We don’t keep any features secret".



Mojang was open to showing off the new titles it was developing, even though they weren't ready to share details, he said.
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Mojang said that players would be able to play early versions of games when they are ready. This would help the creators refine and market the game.



Similar approaches were used with Minecraft. Mojang wanted the same process to be repeated because it was proven to benefit developers while they worked on a project.



It wasn't about trying replicate the success of Minecraft in order to create another game that is as popular. Bui stated that faith in the overall approach was key.



He said, "We believe that model." "Regardless of their art form, people should put their energy into whatever they believe in, no matter how it turns out.



"That's a noble effort," he added.



Mojang said the same thing. He believed that anyone trying to control or manipulate the Minecraft community to dictate what can and can be done with it was a mistake.



Far better, he said, was to just get out of the way.



"People are at their most creative sometimes when you just let them do what they want," said Mr Bui. You have to give them guidelines but, for the most part, if you allow people to be creative, they will come up more amazing stuff than we could ever imagine.



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29 September 2014


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