Notes

Minecraft and Microsoft: what Now?

Minecraft and Microsoft: What now? By Mark Ward Technology correspondent, BBC News



You can play Minecraft-maker Mojang to see why Microsoft bought it.



The single-player version revolves around an individual who has to survive in a harsh and dangerous world using only their ingenuity to stay safe. Their survival is contingent on their building a home and fighting off monsters using only weapons and tools they can make by hand.



It would be easy to think of this as a reference to Markus "Notch" the game's creator in the event that computer games were subjected to the same scrutiny as novels. He's been quoted in the past about growing to be "relatively poor" and also about creating his own entertainment, and about whether he'll have to overcome the same "demons" that afflicted his father.



Family, friends and the success of the things Notch made with his hands helped him succeed in this harsh world But the success has brought other difficulties. These are more difficult to conquer.



The changes were evident at Minecon in 2012, where it was now impossible for Notch to walk more than just a few feet before being snatched by another fan eager to shake his hand, slap him on the back, take pictures or ask him to sign their foam sword.



People are the ones who hold power



He was never content with the transformation from a simple programmer who was responsible for his own code to a leading member of a global movement. His heartfelt explanation of the reason he's going to leave Mojang - "it's about my sanity" - reaffirms the importance of sanity.



He knows that Minecraft is now about overseeing a community - much, much more than it is about creating and maintaining an application code base.



And therein lies the potential problem for Microsoft.



It has a proven track record of managing massive computer infrastructures which serve millions of customers. This is evident in Xbox Live and other cloud services. 360 degrees all the way around That will be vital when it begins running the behind-the-scenes systems that keep Minecraft going.



But Microsoft will alienate that community if it fails to realize how personal the game is not only for Notch, but for many of the players who play it. It's where they get to meet their friends and create new ones, where they show their personality, where they show off their technical and creative prowess, where they find themselves.



I've seen this with my own children who play it in very different ways. One is a big fan of modified versions that involve arena battles or capture-the-flag-type competitions. The other spends hours crafting intricate homes that are built around swooping minecart tracks. He sometimes constructs treehouses that cover entire forests. They also often go on adventures with their friends seeking treasure, avoiding creepers, and fighting zombies, spiders and Skeletons.



This is possible because Minecraft allows for freedom and openness. Millions of people like them can do it. The malleability of the game lets them change it according to their preferences. This is possible because it gives people access to an amount of control Microsoft has never allowed in its business software. This is what has got the millions who play Minecraft worried. Those fans do not want Microsoft to interfere with their freedom to tinker with it however they want. They have a deep-rooted sense of ownership about the things they create in the game.



Microsoft will be required to perform a tough job, given the importance of this community.



It will be a gruelling task to defeat the feared enemies of all gamers - downtime and lag (aka delay). Microsoft is likely to be held responsible for any problems regarding the game's future availability regardless of whether or not it's their fault.



Making more drastic changes to the running of the game, such as restricting how people can modify it or charging them for things that are currently free or restricting how they can inform the world about what they have done, could be handled badly, and turn a big chunk of that community against Microsoft.



This is a problem considering that a lot of its players are children who will grow up to become the players of the future. It is likely that Microsoft hopes to impress them with the way it manages Minecraft. If it fails to do so, it could end up becoming one of the monsters people are eager to take on and slay.


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