 | |
| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2009 |
| Headquarters | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Industry | Video games |
| Products | Minecraft • Scrolls • Cobalt |
| Parent | Xbox Game Studios (since 2014) |
| Website | Official website (redirects to Minecraft.net) |
Mojang Studios (previously Mojang AB and Mojang Specifications) is a Swedish video game developer based in Stockholm. It was founded by independent video game designer Markus Persson in 2009 for the development and release of the sandbox survival video game Minecraft. The game became highly successful, eventually becoming one of the best-selling games of all time. In November 2014, the company and its assets were sold to Microsoft through Xbox Game Studios for US$2.5 billion. In May 2020, Mojang was rebranded as Mojang Studios.
As of 2021, the company employs approximately 600 people.[1] Apart from Minecraft, Mojang Studios has developed turn-based strategy game Crown and Council and action side-scroller Cobalt. It has also released various smaller games as part of game jams organized by Humble Bundle.
History[]
Background and formation (2009-2010)[]
Mojang Studios was founded by Markus Persson, a Swedish video game designer and programmer, in 2009.[2][3]
In May 2009, Persson began working on a clone of Infiniminer, a game developed by Zachtronics and released earlier that year. Persson reused assets and parts of the engine code from an earlier personal project and released the first alpha version of the game, now titled Minecraft, on 17 May 2009, followed by the first commercial version on 13 June 2009. He reused the name "Mojang Specifications" for this release.[2][4] In less than a month, Minecraft had generated enough revenue for Persson to take time off his day job, which he was able to quit entirely by May 2010.[2] As all sales were processed through the game's website, he did not have to split income with third parties. The payment services provider PayPal temporarily disabled his account when fraud was suspected.[3]
In September 2010, Persson traveled to Bellevue, Washington, to the offices of video game company Valve, where he took part in a programming exercise and met with Gabe Newell, before being offered a job at Valve. He declined the offer and instead contacted Jakob Porsér, a former colleague from King.com, to ask for aid in establishing a business out of Mojang Specifications. In response, Porsér quit his job the following day, and they subsequently incorporated Mojang AB. While Persson continued working on Minecraft, Porsér developed Scrolls, a digital collectible card game. Wishing to focus on game development, they hired Carl Manneh, the manager of jAlbum, Persson's previous employer, as chief executive officer. Other significant early hires included Daniel Kaplan as business developer, Markus Toivonen as art director, and Jens Bergensten as lead programmer.
Continued growth (2011-2013)[]
In January 2011, Minecraft reached one million registered accounts and ten million six months thereafter. The continued success led Mojang to start the development of a new version for mobile devices. Due to the incompatibility of the game's Java-based framework with mobile devices, this version was programmed in C++ instead. Another version, initially developed for Xbox 360, was outsourced to Scotland-based developer 4J Studios, which also used C++.[2]
For the full release of Minecraft, Mojang held Minecon, a dedicated convention event, in Las Vegas on 18–19 November 2011, with Minecraft formally being released during a presentation on the first day.[2][5] Following Minecraft's full release, Persson transferred his role as lead designer for the game to Jens Bergensten in December 2011.
Microsoft subsidiary (since 2014)[]
On 15 September 2014, Microsoft announced their agreement to purchase Mojang for US$2.5 billion;[6] The deal was finalized on 6 November and Mojang became part of the Xbox Game Studios branch.[7][8]
Minecraft Classic, the original browser-based version of Minecraft, was re-released for free on its tenth anniversary in May 2019.[9]
On 17 May 2020, the date of Minecraft's eleventh anniversary, Mojang announced its rebranding to "Mojang Studios", aiming to reflect its multi-studio structure, and introduced a new logo.[10]
List of games[]
Mojang has worked on a number of games, including:
Cancelled/Discontinued[]
- 0x10c (Unreleased)
- Minecraft: Story Mode (Discontinued)
- Minecraft Earth (Discontinued)
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Watson, Marc [@Marc_IRL] (4 March 2021) "I think this tweet is another reason I don't do it: everyone assumes that all ~600 people at Mojang directly create Minecraft Java and Bedrock 😂 And half the questions would be about that" – via Twitter
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Cox, Alex (13 June 2018). "The history of Minecraft". TechRadar. Archived from the original on 9 August 2018.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cheshire, Tom (15 September 2014). "Changing the game: how Notch made Minecraft a cult hit". Wired UK. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018.
- ↑ Smith, Graham (6 February 2012). "The First Moments of Minecraft". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018.
- ↑ Purchese, Robert (3 August 2011). "Minecraft convention Minecon announced". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020.
- ↑ Molina, Brett (15 September 2014). "Microsoft to acquire 'Minecraft' maker Mojang for $2.5B". USA Today. Archived from the original on 7 September 2017.
- ↑ Goldberg, Daniel; Larsson, Linus. "The Unlikely Story of Microsoft's Surprise Minecraft Buyout". Wired (2 June 2015). Archived from the original on 9 June 2020.
- ↑ Sarkar, Samit (6 November 2014). "Microsoft officially owns Minecraft and developer Mojang now". Polygon. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018.
- ↑ Jones, Ali (8 May 2019). "Minecraft Classic is now available to play for free in your browser". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019.
- ↑ Gurwin, Gabe (17 May 2020). "Minecraft Developer Mojang Has Change Its Name". GameSpot.
External links[]
- Official website (redirects to minecraft.net)
- Official Twitter
- YouTube channel