Mojang team ‘would split’ if bought

Minecraft studio Mojang has no interest in being acquired, its two senior staff have told Develop.

Speaking in an in-depth Q&A about Minecraft and the studio’s new-found fame, game creator Markus Persson and business development man Daniel Kaplan talked at length about their studio philosophy.

And for added context: the two had already made it clear to EA they weren’t for sale.

The sudden digital success of Minecraft has caught the magpie-eyes of publishers and partners – the game is headed to 360 via Microsoft and Xperia Play thanks to Sony Ericsson – but that won’t disrupt Monjang’s indie ethos.

Explained Kaplan: "We are very humbled having all the exposure we have got so we are still trying to keep our feet on the ground.

"[In terms of staffing the studio] we have managed to find really great people who are independent, take hold of their job and do it. We don’t have to micro-manage everything like you would have to in a bigger company. We want to avoid that by giving a lot of freedom to developers and the other guys working in the company. They get a sense of freedom and at the same time responsibility. It’s not like ‘here’s a task’, its more like ‘we want to do something like this’ and they can then figure it out. It becomes their own project.

"Most of the guys working for the company have their own interest of being independent too. I know that some of the guys we’ve hired would probably quit their job if someone bought out the company."

Persson added: "We believe we need that kind of atmosphere to be able to attract the best people in the world."