Markus Persson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Markus Persson
Persson at the 2016 Game Developers Conference
Born	Markus Alexej Persson (1979-06-01) 1 June 1979 (age 46) Stockholm, Sweden
Other names	Notch
Occupation	Video game programmer designer
Years active	2004–present
Notable work	Minecraft
Title	Founder of Mojang Studios
Spouse(s)	Elin Zetterstrand ​ ​ (m. 2011; div. 2012)​
Children	1

Markus Alexej Persson (born June 1, 1979), also known as Notch, is a Swedish video game programmer and designer. He is famous for creating Minecraft, which is the best-selling video game ever. He started his own video game company, Mojang Studios, in 2009.

Markus began making video games when he was very young. He became successful after he released an early version of Minecraft in 2009. Before the game was officially released in 2011, it had already sold over ten million copies! After this, Markus stepped down as the main designer. He gave his creative role to Jens Bergensten.

In September 2014, Markus said he felt he had "become a symbol" and didn't want to be in charge of Mojang anymore. He left Mojang in November of that year. He sold his company to Microsoft for a lot of money, which made him a billionaire. In 2015, he started another game studio called Rubberbrain, which later became Bitshift Entertainment in 2024.

Early Life and First Steps in Gaming

Markus Alexej Persson was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on June 1, 1979. He grew up in a town called Edsbyn until he was seven. Then, his family moved back to Stockholm. In Edsbyn, he loved exploring the woods with his friends.

Markus became interested in video games at a young age. His father taught him how to use their family computer, a Commodore 128. Markus played many games on it. He also typed in programs from computer magazines with his sister's help. The first game he bought with his own money was The Bard's Tale.

He started programming on his father's computer when he was seven. By age eight, he had made his first game, which was a text-based adventure game. By 1994, Markus knew he wanted to be a video game developer. His teachers suggested he study graphic design, which he did from ages 15 to 18.

Markus was a bit shy but liked by his friends. In high school, he spent most of his free time playing games and programming at home. He even figured out how the Doom game engine worked! He never finished high school, but he was a good student.

Markus's Career Journey

Markus started his career as a web designer. Later, he worked at Game Federation, where he met Rolf Jansson. They worked together in their free time to create the 2006 video game Wurm Online. Markus left this project in late 2007.

Between 2004 and 2009, Markus worked as a game developer for a company called Midasplayer (now King). He mostly built browser games using Flash. After that, he worked as a programmer for jAlbum.

Creating Minecraft and Mojang

How Minecraft Was Born

Before Minecraft, Markus made many small games. He also joined game design contests and talked with other independent game developers online.

One of his projects was called RubyDung. It was a 3D game where you built things from a top-down view. While working on RubyDung, Markus tried a first-person view, like in Dungeon Keeper. But he thought the graphics looked too blocky and removed it.

In 2009, Markus found inspiration from a game called Infiniminer. This game used blocks and let players mine and build freely. Infiniminer greatly influenced his work on RubyDung. It made him bring back the first-person view, the blocky style, and the block-building ideas to his game. RubyDung was the very first version of what would become Minecraft.

The Rise of Minecraft

On May 17, 2009, Markus released the first version of Minecraft online. He updated the game often based on what players said. He released many new versions in 2009 and 2010, like Survival Test and Alpha.

While making Minecraft, Markus also worked at jAlbum. But after Minecraft became very popular, he started working part-time at jAlbum. He left that job later in 2010 to focus only on Minecraft.

In September 2010, Markus visited Valve Corporation, another game company. He was offered a job there, but he said no. He wanted to keep working on Minecraft.

On December 20, 2010, Minecraft moved into its beta phase. It also started coming out on other devices, like phones. In January 2011, one million people had signed up for Minecraft. Six months later, that number reached ten million! Mojang held the first Minecon event in November 2011 to celebrate the game's full release.

After this, on December 11, 2011, Markus gave the main creative control of Minecraft to Jens Bergensten. Markus then started working on a new game called 0x10c, but he stopped working on it around 2013. In 2013, Mojang made a lot of money from Minecraft.

Saying Goodbye to Mojang

Markus said that he got tired of running Minecraft and the company. There was a lot of media attention and pressure from the public.

In September 2014, Microsoft decided to buy Mojang for $2.5 billion. This deal made Markus a billionaire. He left the company after the sale was completed in November.

What Markus Did After Mojang

Since leaving Mojang, Markus has worked on several small projects. In June 2014, he started a company called Rubberbrain AB. This company was relaunched as Bitshift Entertainment, LLC in March 2024. Markus has also shown interest in creating new video game studios and making virtual reality games. He has also created special events called ".party()", which use amazing visual effects in different cities.

At the beginning of 2025, Markus thought about making a new game similar to Minecraft, sometimes called "Minecraft 2". But after talking with his team, he decided to make a different type of game called Levers and Chests.

Games Markus Has Worked On

Persson at the Game Developers Conference 2011

Minecraft

Markus's most famous game is the survival sandbox game Minecraft. It was first available on May 17, 2009, and fully released on November 18, 2011. Markus left his job to work on Minecraft full-time. In early 2011, Mojang sold its one millionth copy of the game. Markus later gave the main developer role to Jens Bergensten. He stopped working on Minecraft after selling Mojang to Microsoft for $2.5 billion.

Caller's Bane

Markus and Jakob Porsér came up with the idea for Scrolls. This game had parts of board games and collectible card games. Markus said he wouldn't be deeply involved in making the game. Jakob Porsér would be the main developer.

In 2011, Markus shared that a law firm representing Bethesda Softworks was suing him. They said the name Scrolls was too similar to their The Elder Scrolls games. Markus even jokingly challenged Bethesda to a Quake 3 tournament to settle the name fight! In 2012, they reached an agreement. Mojang was allowed to keep using the name Scrolls. In 2018, Scrolls became free to play and was renamed Caller's Bane.

Cliffhorse

Cliffhorse is a funny game Markus made in just two hours. He used the Unity game engine and free art. The game was inspired by the physics in Skyrim and other silly games. It was released for Microsoft Windows computers. Players were asked to donate Dogecoin to "buy" the game before downloading it. The game collected over 280,000 dogecoins.

0x10^c

After he finished his work on Minecraft, Markus started planning a new space game in March 2012. It was set in the far future. On April Fools' Day, Mojang made a funny website for a fake game called Mars Effect. But the real game, 0x10^c (pronounced "Ten to the C"), was revealed a few days later. It was a space sandbox game. Markus officially stopped making the game in August 2013. However, C418, who made music for Minecraft, released an album of the music he had made for 0x10^c.

Shambles

In 2013, Markus made a free game called Shambles. He created it using the Unity game engine.

Games from Ludum Dare

Markus has also taken part in several Ludum Dare competitions. These are events where people make a game in just 48 hours!

• Breaking the Tower was a game Markus made for Ludum Dare No. 12. In this game, you are on a small island. You have to gather resources, build things, and train soldiers to destroy a big tower.
• Metagun is a 2D platformer game he made for Ludum Dare No. 18.
• Prelude of the Chambered was made for Ludum Dare No. 21. It's a short first-person game where you explore a dungeon.
• Minicraft was made for Ludum Dare No. 22 in December 2011. It's a small top-down survival game that is similar to Zelda and was influenced by Minecraft. It was written in Java.

Markus's Life Outside of Gaming

In 2011, Markus married Elin Zetterstrand. They had been together for four years. Elin used to be a moderator on the Minecraft forums. They had a daughter together. Markus and Elin divorced in 2012.

Markus has shared his thoughts on game piracy. He once said that "piracy is not theft." He believes that people who download games without paying might become customers later.

In 2011, Markus said he was a member of the Pirate Party of Sweden. He is also a member of Mensa, which is a group for people with very high IQs.

He has given money to many charities, including Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). Under his guidance, Mojang spent a week making a game called Catacomb Snatch for a charity bundle. This raised $458,248 for good causes. He also gave $250,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation in 2012. In 2011, he shared $3 million in profits with Mojang employees.

According to Forbes, his net worth in 2023 was about US$1.2 billion. In 2014, Markus was one of the biggest tax payers in Sweden. Around 2014, he lived in a large apartment in Östermalm, Stockholm, which he described as an area where wealthy people live. In December 2014, Markus bought a house in Trousdale Estates, Beverly Hills, CA, for $70 million. This was a record price for Beverly Hills at the time.

Awards and Recognition

See also

In Spanish: Markus Persson para niños