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Mojang's Monster Profits
- peapicker 14y agoJava on the Desktop... in a biiig way. My son loves it, especially building complicated redstone devices -- kind of a form of in-game programming.
- calinet6 14y agoIt could have succeeded without being in Java... it's the game's design and concepts that make it successful. Though to be fair, it helps make multiplatform availability easier.
- peapicker 14y agoI don't disagree... it was merely an observation. The largest-selling game currently available just happens to run on desktop Java... and the consensus I see recently around here is that Desktop Java is dead -- I like to point out that millions of homes are actively using it, even if only to play a game that really isn't dependent on what one would typically think of when they think 'desktop Java'. Probably a few users of Eclipse out there, as well.
- axusgrad 14y agoThere are some basic C++ and C# Minecraft clients that people made for fun, but the real benefit of Java is how mod-able it is. There's actually a lot of tools for taking apart the minecraft.jar and putting it back together with new features.
- WaynesWorld 14y agoAnd yet had it not been Java you would have said that it could never have succeeded in Java. Somebody is butt hurt.
- teamonkey 14y agoI think one of the major points that sold the game is that there is (was?) a stripped-down demo of the game that ran right there on the page. Not sure whether you want to buy? Just press that button there...
- mmcnickle 14y agoIf he enjoys redstone, you should also try out the ComputerCraft mod [1]. It's a full lua environment inside minecraft and you can write programs to output redstone signals to things like doors. The most interesting thing is the ability to program "turtles" -- programmable robots capable of mining/crafting for you. Videos are probably the easiest way to see the possibilities of the mod. [1] http://www.computercraft.info/ http://www.computercraft.info/
- peapicker 14y agoHadn't heard of this, I'm checking it out now, Thank you! This may get me the rest way into Minecraft... I've been wanting to write an L-system generator for large-scale objects and this sounds like it may be just the ticket.
- keyboardP 14y agoCongratulations to the Minecraft team, well deserved. Hopefully this serves as inspiration to other indie devs working on their projects.
- uncoder0 14y agoCongrats are in order for Notch and his team. Thanks for the great game and we are all looking forward to 0x10c. :D
- dclowd9901 14y agoI still don't understand the appeal, which is obviously my problem, because there is certainly appeal. I've given the game some time, and I consider myself quite an avid gamer, but I just don't find it all that fun, interesting or entertaining. Can someone explain why this thing exploded how it did?
- WaynesWorld 14y agoCapricious gods. No, the game is actually quite fun. Is really easy to create something new from scratch. The same way that as a kid one used to love playing with Legos. On the other hand, what is the appeal of Facebook? Is just a glorified chat room.
- mattmanser 14y agoIt lets you build stuff using your own imagination. A fully destructable/reshapeable world. I must admit after building my 3rd castle the novelty wore off, but I can understand why so many people love it. It's lego for adults.
- fredley 14y agoI'd got a bit tired of the vanilla game, but now I'm completely hooked on FTB, a modpack along the lines of Tekkit. The replayability through mods is one of the things driving the success of the game.
- Swizec 14y agoI think that's the main reason I personally can't get into the game. As a programmer, my life revolves around creating stuff out of basic building blocks. Anything I can imagine. With the added benefit that people actually pay me to do this stuff. Score!
- allenp 14y agoOut of curiosity do you like other sandbox games like simcity or dwarf fortress?
- 14y ago
- orangethirty 14y agoThe amazing thing about this game is that I'm using it to teach my girls how to program with it. Its a great tool because it allows them to see the value in writing code by getting real results quickly. The oldest one wanted to create pink wood to build herself a pink wood house. Why? Well duh, its pink (her words). We quickly dug the source code and had a pink wood block in a short time. She was so happy and learned about Java. A double win in my book.
- Simucal 14y agoWould you need to dig into the source code for this? I thought there were just texture images that you could modify.
- beering 14y agoYou would if you wanted to add it as a separate block type, or if you wanted to change non-visual properties of the block.
- splawn 14y agooooh, have you seen pi version? Its purpose is for teaching children programming (its scriptable with python). It doesn't look like its quite ready, but here is the link to watch: http://pi.minecraft.net/ http://pi.minecraft.net/
- mweibel 14y agoHow did you dig through the source code? Dissasembling or is it somewhere available?
- mmastrac 14y agoCouldn't have happened to a greater bunch of indie gamers. Also from the article here: "Markus Persson gave away his part, about 27 million, to the employees."
- SquareWheel 14y agoNotch is one of my favorite people. The guy just feels so genuine. He loves games, and that's why he makes them. I'm glad he's done so well.
- gebe 14y agoThat was last year though. And it was 27 million SEK not USD. edit: Just wanted to make it clear what the article said, it was not meant to sound negative. It is truly an awesome and very kind gesture from Markus!
- tokenizer 14y agoThat changes everything!
- mmastrac 14y agoThanks for the clarification - looks like 27MM SEK = ~4MM USD. Still not a bad chunk of change.
- jholman 14y agoAnd he gave away his share of the Mojang dividend. Mojang still paid him 400 M SEK in licensing fees in 2011, and another 640 in 2012, which amounts to nearly 200 million US dollars. Not making a comment about how awesome or not-awesome giving away $4M USD is. Just adding context.
- WaynesWorld 14y agoThe awesome thing is that it is written in Java. All the Java haters (I'm looking at you Ruby developers) wish it weren't so.
- udp 14y agoI dislike Java to develop in. I don't dislike software just because it's written in Java, nor do I wish that everything written in Java wasn't.
- digitalsushi 14y agoWhoa, that is harsh. Is it ok I am a ruby developer that likes java?
- MattBearman 14y agoI'm a Ruby dev with no feelings about Java (never programmed in it). I've gotta say these kind of posts piss me off. A programming language is a tool, nothing more, nothing less. Certain tools are better than others for certain jobs.
- WaynesWorld 14y agoI feel the same. A programming language is just a tool. And yet your ilk have been bashing it for way too long. Maybe not you, but a vocal group of Ruby developers have. I program in C,C++,Java,VBA,JavaScrip,PL-SQL and I've even dabbled in Ruby, Perl and LISP. However, I still find it offensive that some noob Ruby developers think somehow that they are the chosen ones and can bash other developers without expecting any backlash.
- illuminate 14y agoPreemptively "anti-fanboying" doesn't really raise the level of discourse.
- jff 14y agoAnd I can only assume that Java is why it runs at a crawl even at startup. But then, I only have 4 GB of RAM, enough to play pretty much every AAA game of today, but I guess Minecraft's ~cutting edge graphics~ are too complex.
- klrr 14y agoNice, hopefully they will invest in Reborn(A vaporware game told to be the new Quake.).
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- blhack 14y agoCheck out Mojang's next project: http://0x10c.com/ http://0x10c.com/ Minecraft-sized space game? Where you have to program your ship? Yes please!
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- dopamean 14y agoI totally understand what you're saying. However consider you make a piece of software with tons of adoring fans and paying users. You make a ton of money (for arguments sake lets say...$92 million). You probably wouldn't find it hugely necessary to invest in making the improvements to annoying bugs that detract from immersion. I've never used Minecraft and actually I haven't a clue what it is. I just know that from a business perspective it sounds like there is no need for the makers of this program to invest in correcting its problems. The market seems to think the software is fantastic.
- deelowe 14y agoo_O I suggest checking the release notes before assuming this. Most of what's been going on with minecraft over the past several releases has been targeted at addressing gameplay issues and bug fixes[1][2]. [1] Stable Releases - http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Version_history http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Version_history [2] Development Releases - http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Version_history/Development_versions http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Version_history/Developmen...
- dopamean 14y agoListen, I'm not saying that the makers of the program are not interested in making it better. I would hope, and assume, that anyone who spends a lot of time writing code wants it to work as well as possible. The comment I replied to implied that since they made so much money it is somehow odd that he is still able to find problems that perhaps have existed over several versions. My point is simply that making lots of money could demotivate someone from working harder to perfect it if the market is telling them that the product is pretty damn good as it is.
- DanBC 14y ago> I just know that from a business perspective it sounds like there is no need for the makers of this program to invest in correcting its problems The programmers are active on Reddit, twitter and youtube. There have been several examples of people posting information about bugs or suggestions and those things being implemented.
- evo_9 14y agoGotta love these guys, great game too, something I play with the kids and we all love it. A great documentary you can download with ads on it from PirateBay, or buy a full copy: PB Free with Ads: http://thepiratebay.se/search/story%20of%20mojang http://thepiratebay.se/search/story%20of%20mojang Purchase for $8 (US): http://redux.com/minecraft-movie http://redux.com/minecraft-movie
- Erwin 14y agoThe actual amounts were 1500 MM SEK revenue (236 MM USD), and a 640 MM SEK (100 M USD) licensing fee/royalty to Notch, leaving that 580 MM (92 MM USD) profit. So that's 92 million on top of 100 million in effectively dividends to Notch (by pulling out that amount, he must be one of the Swedes paying most tax!)
- ido 14y agoI'll bet that at that level there are ways of paying less than the standard ~40-50% (or whatever the maximum tax rate is in Sweden) individual income tax. E.g. I'll bet Bill Gates didn't personally pay (10s of) $billions in income taxes either.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- adventured 14y agoThat's correct. Gates would have been paying capital gains (rather than income taxes (except on his salary)), but has probably paid vast sums in taxes over time just due to the scale. He has shifted a lot of wealth from Microsoft stock holdings to his Cascade Investments. He holds roughly $20 billion in Microsoft, and $40 to $45 billion in Cascade. Gates would have paid a huge amount of capital gains taxes on that shift most likely (even if he managed to shield some or most of it; just 5% * $20 billion is still a billion in taxes). Just as a side reference, the dividend and capital gains rate in Sweden is about 30%.
- Zimahl 14y agoWow, it just almost seems impossible that an indie game can be that successful. It's unfortunate that it's such a rarity, I'm sure there are hundreds of great games out there that languish. If anyone wonders, the PC version is not the best seller (currently) for Mojang. The XBox version sells more than the PC version and the Pocket Edition (iOS, Android) sells more than both combined[1]. [1] http://www.mojang.com/2013/01/christmas-stat-attack/ http://www.mojang.com/2013/01/christmas-stat-attack/
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- arrrg 14y agoBut, maybe surprisingly, the PC version has been selling at a pretty constant pace for years now, between 8,000 and 12,000 copies per day. It never sold much more than that per day (certain peaks excluded), so demand is not shrinking, strangely enough. Daily stats for the PC version here: http://minecraft.net/stats http://minecraft.net/stats
- wtn 14y agoWhy do you keep changing the title
- sheraz 14y agoIs it just me or is the whole article in Swedish?
- United857 14y agoNot just you. The Google translation is not that great, either. To the OP, HN is not a Swedish language site.
- ChrisArchitect 14y agoLego Group, 758 million in 2011. There's your target Minecraft.
- mmanfrin 14y agoSorry for my meta-snark, but: This is an example of bad editing of the title. The original one was much more descriptive and got to the core of what is interesting about this article. The edit has made the title bland and uninformative.
- incision 14y agoI've seen a comment or two about title-editing, but this is the first time I've observed it and I certainly agree. This is a pointless edit: A useful, descriptive, non-sensational / non-opinionated title replaced with something that is just plain worse. How did this even get started? Too much bitching / derailing about editorialized titles?
- teach 14y ago"How did this even get started?" Well, the Hacker News guidelines[1] say: > Please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait. This rule is frequently violated, because a lot of the times the original title is bad. So submitters that are used to reddit re-title the link, sometimes for worse and sometimes for the better. But HN is pretty strict about the title rule, so they get edited back to the original pretty quickly. [1] http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- petercooper 14y agoWeird. They've changed the rules. What you quoted seemed very weird to me since I'd sorta internalized the guidelines and it seems they got edited over the past year. See http://web.archive.org/web/20120222184108/http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://web.archive.org/web/20120222184108/http://ycombinator... for what they were a year ago. You can make up a new title if you want, but if you put gratuitous editorial spin on it, the editors may rewrite it. It seems that part has been thrown out the window and rewrites are no longer welcome. A shame.
- teach 14y ago
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- illuminate 14y agoThe article answers this. "The biggest cost, 640 million, are license fees to Minecraft Creator and Mojangdelägaren Markus "Notch" Persson".
- turtle4 14y agoSorry, I was a victim of the translation, I think. I see the clarification now. Sorry, I tried to delete before replies, but a couple of you got in beforehand, apparently.
- citricsquid 14y agoMinecraft is owned by Markus (Notch). Mojang licenses the game from Notch. The biggest cost was paying Notch, which was ~640 million. Also, worth noting that this is a Swedish article, it's SEK not USD. 1 USD is about 6 SEK. The revenue was closer to $250,000,000 USD.
- citricsquid 14y agoI remember when I bought Minecraft, at the time Minecraft had grossed less than 100 Euros. I wish I could go back and tell myself that the game was going to gross 1,500,000,000 SEK... hah.
- StacyC 14y agoMy wife and I play Minecraft with our two sons and their friends, and we have a blast with it. We have a family server running on an old Mac mini, a whitelist for family and friends to jump on whenever they want. Minecraft is absolutely brilliant.
- homosaur 14y agoAre there honestly any Mojang haters in the world? These guys are just great. 1. Minecraft is an absolute work of art as a standalone game. The possibilities are endless and it works everywhere. It's simple to play yet is possible of incredible complexity. 2. Relative to the playtime, the game is actually very inexpensive, especially if you got the beta/alpha discount 3. Notch really seems like just about the most pleasant guy in the world and really just wears his passion on his sleeve. He's an easy guy to like. 4. Notch and everyone at Mojang really love video games and it shows. I always really respected guys like Kurt Cobain and Flea growing up because they always tried to give credit and lend their popularity to fellow musicians and influences. Everyone at Mojang does this and are surely leading kids toward a lot of great games. They even support the Minecraft clones. 5. It's been covered but Notch has used the massive profits of Minecraft in smart ways to build Mojang slowly and really help out the developers who make it possible. Great bunch of developers too, very public and responsive. They are also smart about what actually gets added to Minecraft. 6. Best community in gaming currently, hands down. The user made stuff is jaw dropping. 7. They continue to spend most of their resources working on Minecraft despite the fact that they are both working on other games now and could sit on their thumbs and rake in the cash on Minecraft if they wanted. Let users fix the bugs. You know, like Bethesda does. 8. Cutest mersh ever.
- intended 14y agoOn number 6) I think you have to meet a few people at a place called bay12.
- shocks 14y agoDWARF FORTRESS :3
- MrFoof 14y agoThe Dwarf Fortress community is an incredible anomaly. It is donation-ware, yet, Tarn brings in enough money to live on (albeit, not comfortably) and to pay his brother for some help. Aside from perhaps Richard Stallman, are there any other software developers that can lay the claim that they've lived off a tip jar? Revenue growth is slow, but not bad considering he attempted to live off of donations at the start of the financial crisis. There is still organic growth however, and as larger milestones are reached I am genuinely curious to see how the community responds, especially once the global economy is out of the current creep its in now: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhPaW9RBi5v4dGFYZ05PVTY4dGxxSVBVVXUzY3dkTFE&usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhPaW9RBi5v4dGF... It's like watching the rise of Banksy. The game is now featured in MoMA. He's had a 6-page article in the New York Times magazine. Every AAA game studio I've walked into at least deeply respects Dwarf Fortress and Bay 12, even if they don't play the game. If he ever gets to finish it (2030 perhaps), it makes you wonder where it will end up in the zeitgeist.
- WestCoastJustin 14y agoSwedish to English translation: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=sv&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fit24.idg.se%2F2.2275%2F1.490017%2Fmojangs-monstervinst http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=sv&tl...
- ChuckMcM 14y agoIts gratifying to see Notch benefit from some really creative work. I do not believe that Minecraft, as a building game, would not have been touched by any of the 'major' studios had he proposed it to them directly. The games industry is a bit crusty in that way.
- chrislloyd 14y agoWe've been tracking Minecraft's public sales over time: http://minecraft-sales.herokuapp.com http://minecraft-sales.herokuapp.com. That's only for the PC version. We estimate that sales of Minecraft across other platforms at least double that revenue.
- caycep 14y agoOne thing I wish I could do is import mesh models into Minecraft. Just so I can write scientific papers featuring Minecraft visualizations and analysis ;)
- caycep 14y agoOne thing I wish I could do is import mesh models into Minecraft. Just so I can write scientific papers featuring Minecraft visualizations and analysis ;)
- yesimahuman 14y agoAnd to think Mojang would have been known as a "lifestyle" business by many people (no outside funding, etc.).
- shurcooL 14y agoA hypothetical question I'd like to have some possible answer to: What would've happened if Minecraft were made open source? How would that alternative reality be different from our current one?
- damian2000 14y agoMy son plays several games online including Minecraft, League of Legends, Clash of Clans and Lost Saga. Minecraft is the only one out of these which doesn't have any pernicious "in app purchase" or online game credit system. I totally admire the fact that Mojang haven't stooped to this level of trying to gouge money from their customers pockets.
- gala8y 14y agoOoops, I paid twice - gift for son of my cousin (yay!) and for myself. How he could go on an adventure and I would not follow? Also, trying to login while he was offline felt so cheap. After we started building together I tried to destroy our island in many ways, including dying with handfuls of equipment, but am getting better fast. P.S. Not that I didn't want to play MC in the first place...