Notes

Londonderry's 21-year-old Minecraft Mogul

Londonderry's 21-year-old Minecraft mogul Owen Thomas Owen Thomas BBC News NI



11 June 2018



In just three years, the 21-year-old Londonderry man has gone from putting shelves up in a supermarket to establishing an extremely successful brick-by-brick gaming company.



Jonathan Black was rotating stock in Long's supermarket when he turned his Minecraft hobby into an award-winning business.



Blockception was created by him while he was studying for his A-levels 2015 that allows you to download and use virtual Lego sets however you like.



Blockception was selected by Microsoft as a partner in the year 2017 by Microsoft as a partner. Gamers can now access their marketplace to download their pre-made designs which they can edit and explore with.



'Drive'



He explained that he was the son of self-employed parents and has always felt the need to earn a living for himself.



"It's just the environment that I grew up in, where I was surrounded by business owners and entrepreneurs, so I guess it's in my blood."



Minecraft is is known as a sandbox-style video game and allows players to build with a variety of different cubes in a 3D world.



Other activities include resource gathering as well as combat and exploration.



Jonathan quickly realized that he did not want to be anybody else's employee, and with the pressure of balancing A-Levels and work at Long's, it became apparent he needed to quit and concentrate on Blockception.
Minecraft


He stated, "I was making more money with Minecraft than I did the past few weeks at work. I wanted to make a change and try something different."



"It was much more thrilling to earn money, and I was doing it through my hobby."



However when Jonathan claimed that he could make a full-time job from his favorite pastime was "like winning the lottery", his relationship with the game is now somewhat more complicated.



He stated that "being able to make an income full-time from something you enjoy, is amazing, but it's not an obsession anymore, so you're sacrificing one of your favourite hobbies.



"I would have played Minecraft several years ago in my free time, but it's much more difficult to enjoy it when it's your job."



Microsoft Partnering



Before Microsoft began to show interest in the business, it was supported by local projects such as CultureTECH However, job offers were not flooding in.



Jonathan declared that "If Microsoft had not gotten involved, we would have seriously thought about other options for long-term business plans.



"A week before Microsoft approached us and asked us to hand over the business to another company.



"Just one day prior to the handover, the email was sent and the process began.



"We were so close moving away from Minecraft It's almost impossible."



Lost Civilisation



Lost Civilisation was released as an absolutely free download by Microsoft as part of a 12-day Christmas promotion. It is the map that launched the company's growth.



It has been downloaded more one million times.



"It's an incomprehensible number to comprehend, and I'm trying to understand it in stadiums. For instance, if you imagine a full capacity Wembley Arena, it's still more than ten," Jonathan said.



"It's amazing numbers, it's overwhelming but it is great and if people love playing our stuff and are happy, then it's a good thing."



Is Minecraft a viable career option?



Blockception staff are skilled in many areas that have allowed them to make a living from the video game. These include graphic designers as well as scriptwriters, programmers and voice actors. There are many opportunities for long-term employment in Minecraft through jobs in the creative industry.



Jonathan added: "As we expand, there will be more positions available, but there is plenty of competition in the gaming industry.



"The last few years have seen an increase in the number of many entry-level jobs However, we'd played Minecraft for many years, and I started playing it at 14.



"We've spent lots of time learning things from a consumer perspective and now we're fully circled from providers to players."



In spite of the difficulties Blockception ran into in its beginning days, Jonathan is still convinced that Minecraft isn't just a passing trend.



He added, "I have great confidence that the product is in good hands."


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