Markus Persson / Notch
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About
Notch is the handle of Mark Persson, a Swedish indie game developer and founder of Mojang Specifications that is best known for creating the sandbox building game Minecraft. Largely due to the success of Minecraft, Persson has become an iconic figure within the fanbase and online gaming culture.
Online History
According to Wikipedia[1] and other various sources, Persson began his career as a game developer for King.com[2], an online skill-based games company that provides a variety of arcade and puzzle games. While working at King.com from 2005 to 2009, Persson worked on a number of action script and java-based games such as Funny Farm[3], Luxor[4] and Carnival Shootout.[5]
After departing from the online gaming site in 2009, Persson continued to work as a programmer for the image hosting site Jalbum[6] and as a co-founder of Wurm Online[7], a 3D java-based MMO game that was first released in June 2006.
Outside of his work, Persson has participated in numerous programming competitions and created seven indie games including "Left 4K Dead" and "Mega 4K Man." He has also entered the Ludum Dare competition. He is involved in making a movie called "Minecraft: The story of Mojang".[8]
Career Highlights
As a freelance programmer, Notch has participated in the Java 4K Programming Contest and went on to create seven games, including Miners4K which won the 2006 competition.
- MEG4kMAN (2009): a Mega Man clone featuring very old school graphics.
- Left 4k Dead (2009), a zombie shooter game inspired by Left 4 Dead.
- t4kns (2008), a real time strategy game.
- Miners4k (2006), a game kinda inspired by lemmings and diggers.
- Hunters4k (2005), a first person shooter.
- Dungeon4k (2005), a dungeon exploration game.
- Sonic Racer 4k (2005), a racing game with stolen sprites. I lost the source code for this.
In addition to the Java 4K contest, Notch has also entered submissions for the Retro Remakes competition and Ludum Dare competition, from which he released a number of simple games like Blast Passage, Breaking the Tower and Bunny Press among others.
Reputation
Advocacy of File-Sharing
Notch has been an open supporter of online file-sharing platforms and critic of the argument that digital piracy of intellectual property is the same as stealing. At the 2011 Game Developer Conference[9] in San Francisco, Notch explained his stance on intellectual property and piracy before a crowd of developers and journalists[11][12]:
βA lot of big companies try to make piracy like theft; I wouldnβt steal a car, but I would steal a good design. If I liked another personβs apartment, I would try to make mine look like someone elseβsβ¦ but thatβs not stealing.β
Online Presence
Notch actively maintains online presence through social networking accounts on Facebook[10], Tumblr[11] and Twitter.[12] As of November 2nd, 2011, Persson (@Notch) has over 457,799 followers on Twitter. On Reddit, Persson started an AMA (Ask Me Anything) thread on Reddit on April 6th, 2011, which accumulated over 2,686 comments with 6,862 up votes and 4,352 down votes.
In a March 2010 interview with the gaming blog Gamasutra[2], Notch revealed that he is an occasional visitor of 4chan and acknowledged his appreciation for the Anonymous fanbase:
Yes, I sometimes do. I've even posted! It's a fascinating and scary place. Is that really what we're like, us humans? Or is it just layers of irony upon layers of irony? Perhaps it's just trolls? It might be one of the closest things we've got to a self-conscious virtual entity on the internet. Anonymous seemed to decide that Minecraft was a good game, and I love them for it. That's basically the most honest praise I've ever gotten.
Twitter Avatars
In addition, Persson's profile avatar has inspired several dozens of fan-generated Twitter accounts with handles containing the name "Notch" and derivative avatars, including the earliest known instance @Devil_Notch (which is no longer available).
Tributes on Minecraft
Numerous structures and memorials have been erected by fans in Minecraft servers as well.
Dramas on Twitter
On May 21st, 2016, Persson replied to Twitter[14] user Jennifer Scheurle that the term "mansplaining" was "a sexist term designed to silence men via gender shaming" (shown below, left). In response, Twitter user @MancZombie accused Persson of committing mansplaining himself, to which he responded "stop #cuntfusing the issue by dismissing my words with a derogatory term about my gender" (shown below, middle).[15] That evening, many Twitter users attacked Persson for using the word "cunt" (shown below, right).
The following day, several screenshots of the Twitter exchanges reached the front page of the /r/KotakuInAction[16] subreddit. On May 23rd, the news site HeatStreet[18] published an article about the Twitter drama. On June 21st, Redditor RarestarGarden submitted a post titled "What's up with Notch on Twitter" to /r/OutOfTheLoop,[17] where Persson replied with a lengthy post explaining the Twitter feuds:
![[-] xNotch 7 points an hour ago From what I can piece together, this is what happened: Once I realized I had fuck-you money and didn't care about my public image any more because it didn't affect my day to day life in any way, I started speaking out against things I personally thing are wrong This got a surprisingly good reaction, with people contacting me in private to tell me they appreciated me doing so, but were unable to publicly back me on it. I completely understood, but felt encouraged to keep doing so Eventually, this led to people on the other side of the issue starting to attack me, either to libelous articles or by sending me tweets, so I'd start replying to those in public too. People went nuts, both because they like the drama, and because some people thought I was doing something good. Some people said they didn't care about the actual politics but found it refreshing to see a big name speak candidly. This egged me on, so I kept doing it, and eventually it became a bad habit. I recently got completely baited into doing a public reply to some miserable c-word, which they then tried to use to make me seem like a horrible horrible person. I'm currently trying to bring my twitter back to mostly just making bad jokes and complaining about video games Accusations of me being miserable are incorrect. Accusations of me being a bigot are incorrect. But I also kind of don't care what people think I feel or what people think I think, as that has no actual impact on my reality. I'm sharing this with you because maybe I can get some of that sweet reddit karma, and also because I still care a little bit. 1: clown permalink source embed save save-RES report give gold reply hide child comments [-] kevintumermovie Well, there you go OP. Answers don't get more direct than this permalink source embed save save-RES parent report give gold reply δΈͺ 2 points an hour ago [-] StannisIsTheMannis How do you feel about journalists and gamers who criticize gaming companies for not including playable female characters? Such as GTA V, Link, and Assassin's Creed? Do you feel like it would be a cool artistic direction, or do you feel like its a non issue? Thank you for staying honest about your opinions permalink source embed save save-RES parent report give gold reply δΈͺ 1 point an hour ago [-] xNotch points 42 minutes ago It's an obvious non-issue, and people There are things I agree with, however. Say you're writing the rules for a game and you don't know the gender of the player. Don't assume male, that's just weird. Some use he/she, but I personally am I huge fan of "they" permalink source embed save save-RES parent report give gold reply who claim this trend isn't censorship are two faced liars [-] StannisIsTheMannis 1 point 36 minutes ago Thank you! I don't know many developers so I was curious how that side viewed it (I know you don't speak for developers but many have been mute on it for fear of backlash) permalink source embed save save-RES parent report give gold reply](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/138/964/651.png "Notch's /r/OutOfTheLoop Response")
Removal From Minecraft Splash Screens
On March 27th, 2019, an Minecraft update was released which removed mentions of Persson from the game's splash screens, which previously would display messages like "Made by Notch!" and "The Work Of Notch!"[19] That day, Redditor DraftDraw submitted a post titled "What's up with Minecraft's creator and why has his name been removed from the game?" to /r/OutOfTheLoop,[20] where Redditor Psherman01 replied citing recent Twitter controversies in which Persson promoted QAnon and called for Communists to be punched. That day, several posts about the update reached the front pages of the /r/Games,[22] /r/memes,[23] /r/SubredditDrama[24] and /r/GamersRiseUp[25] subreddits, along with image macros and photoshops referencing the news story (shown below).
Search Interest
External References
[1] Mojang β Biography Page
[2] Gamasutra β Interview: Markus Notch Persson Talks Minecraft
[3] Wikipedia β Markus Persson
[7] Twitter β @King_Notch
[9] Game Developers Conference β Official Website
[11] TorrentFreak β Piracy is Theft? Ridiculous. Lost Sales? They Donβt Exist, Says Minecraft Creator
[12] PC Gamers β Notch on piracy: if a pirated game is a lost sale, should bad reviews be illegal?
[13] Reddit β IAmA indie game developer who made a commercially successful game. AMAA
[15] Twitter β @notch #cuntfusing tweet
[16] Reddit β Notch creates Twitter drama after he gives his opinion on mansplaining
[17] Reddit β Whats up with Notch on Twitter
[18] HeatStreet β Minecraft Creator Notch Markus Persson Bashes Mansplaining
[19] Kotaku β Minecraft Update Removes Mentions Of Notch
[20] Reddit β /r/OutOfTheLoop
[21] Reddit β /r/CringeAnarchy
[24] Reddit β /r/SubredditDrama
[25] Reddit β /r/GamersRiseUp
Related Entries 42 total
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![Notch 00 @notch <[.'<] [>']> <[''<] \[--]/ 6:03 p. m. Β· 3 oct. 2020 Β· Twitter Web App 1 mil Retweets 132 Tweets citados 10,1 mil Me gusta](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/001/906/590/373.png "<['.'<] [>'.']> <['.'<] \[-.-]/")
![[-] xNotch 7 points an hour ago From what I can piece together, this is what happened: Once I realized I had fuck-you money and didn't care about my public image any more because it didn't affect my day to day life in any way, I started speaking out against things I personally thing are wrong This got a surprisingly good reaction, with people contacting me in private to tell me they appreciated me doing so, but were unable to publicly back me on it. I completely understood, but felt encouraged to keep doing so Eventually, this led to people on the other side of the issue starting to attack me, either to libelous articles or by sending me tweets, so I'd start replying to those in public too. People went nuts, both because they like the drama, and because some people thought I was doing something good. Some people said they didn't care about the actual politics but found it refreshing to see a big name speak candidly. This egged me on, so I kept doing it, and eventually it became a bad habit. I recently got completely baited into doing a public reply to some miserable c-word, which they then tried to use to make me seem like a horrible horrible person. I'm currently trying to bring my twitter back to mostly just making bad jokes and complaining about video games Accusations of me being miserable are incorrect. Accusations of me being a bigot are incorrect. But I also kind of don't care what people think I feel or what people think I think, as that has no actual impact on my reality. I'm sharing this with you because maybe I can get some of that sweet reddit karma, and also because I still care a little bit. 1: clown permalink source embed save save-RES report give gold reply hide child comments [-] kevintumermovie Well, there you go OP. Answers don't get more direct than this permalink source embed save save-RES parent report give gold reply δΈͺ 2 points an hour ago [-] StannisIsTheMannis How do you feel about journalists and gamers who criticize gaming companies for not including playable female characters? Such as GTA V, Link, and Assassin's Creed? Do you feel like it would be a cool artistic direction, or do you feel like its a non issue? Thank you for staying honest about your opinions permalink source embed save save-RES parent report give gold reply δΈͺ 1 point an hour ago [-] xNotch points 42 minutes ago It's an obvious non-issue, and people There are things I agree with, however. Say you're writing the rules for a game and you don't know the gender of the player. Don't assume male, that's just weird. Some use he/she, but I personally am I huge fan of "they" permalink source embed save save-RES parent report give gold reply who claim this trend isn't censorship are two faced liars [-] StannisIsTheMannis 1 point 36 minutes ago Thank you! I don't know many developers so I was curious how that side viewed it (I know you don't speak for developers but many have been mute on it for fear of backlash) permalink source embed save save-RES parent report give gold reply](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/001/138/964/651.png "Notch's /r/OutOfTheLoop Response")
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