Minecraft creator Markus “Notch” Persson will be excluded from the game’s 10 year anniversary plans by Microsoft.
Persson, who created Minecraft and sold it to Microsoft to the tune of $2.5 billion in 2014, will not be invited to the game’s 10 year anniversary according to a Microsoft spokesperson.
A Microsoft spokesperson told Variety, “His comments and opinions do not reflect those of Microsoft or Mojang and are not representative of ‘Minecraft.” The spokesperson did indicate that Persson has not been involved with the game since he sold it in 2014.
The 10 year anniversary plans are said to take place at Minecraft studio Mojang in Stockholm. The company describes the event will look at the “past, present and exciting future of the decade-old franchise.”
According to the report from Variety, the Microsoft spokesperson did not indicate any specific comments or opinions made by Notch. However, Variety points out that Notch has discussed a “hetersexual pride day” and has also stated, “it’s ok to be white.”
Notch has also discussed the QAnon conspiracy theory that has hit the internet like a storm over the past few months. A recent tweet from March indicates he supports the popular conspiracy theory.
Q is legit. Don’t trust the media.
— notch (@notch) March 2, 2019
You do know governments have done things like that before in history?
— notch (@notch) March 4, 2019
He has also weighed in on politics questioning how anyone “is still on the left now that they’re advocating infanticide and claim walls don’t work.”
How anyone is still on the left now that they’re advocating infanticide and claim walls don’t work is a mystery to me.
— notch (@notch) March 3, 2019
He’s also commented regarding the ongoing debate about speech specifically in regards to how pronouns are used. He’s also told his followers not to apologize to people who claim you are being “offensive.”
This absolutely include people who claim you meant something you didn’t mean.
NEVER apologize to these fucks if they claim you were being offensive.
They DO NOT care about your input in what you did, and that should have been a pretty solid hint from the start.— notch (@notch) March 10, 2019
Making it illegal to use the wrong pronouns
THEY ARE THE ONES USING THE WRONG PRONOUNS FUCKING HELL
— notch (@notch) March 10, 2019
It’s possible these comments might be what the Microsoft spokesperson is referring to.
This is the latest move by Microsoft to distance themselves from the Minecraft creator. They previously removed reference to Persson on the splash screens in an update to the game in March.
Minecraft was released back in 2011 and has since become one of the most popular and played games in video game history. The game currently has 91 million monthly players. Variety reports it’s “the second best-selling video game in history, behind Tetris.”
What do you think of the exclusion of Notch from the anniversary plans? Was it the right thing to do, or is he being eradicated from his own creation?