Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

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PipFromSlitherine
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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by PipFromSlitherine »

It's LEGO. LEGO! Not LEGOs. Honestly! It's like sheep.

#pethate (not you Pet).

Notch is a great example of someone who listened and worked with his community as it grew, and built a game that carried people with him. That said, as per Iain, he got attention at just the right time, became wider known, etc. My buddy did pretty much the same great community and development work on his Neo Scavenger, and has gotten some attention too, but I don't think he's a billionaire quite yet [:)]. It's an interesting question given the talk from a Unity dev on word of mouth verses traditional discovery. The link for which I cannot find even though I was reading it last night, but forgot to Pocket it...

Cheers

Pip

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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by Anthropoid »

I think you guys are speaking some very accurate things:

1. Luck and timing, factors that no one can truly master or predict.

2. Community-engagement. Yep, but God how laborious, time-consuming and at times stressful. I think Notch was 'good' at it cause he was 'one of us' and found it easy, indeed as he says 'fun' to do the community engagement part.

3. Sandbox. I LOVE sandbox games. That is probably the whole reason I ever played Minecraft at all.

4. Moddability, is another factor that I as a social scientist hypothesize is incredibly powerful at this stage to drive a games popularity, assuming the necessary other factors are lined up in good order.

Related to the issue of moddability . . . an aside for those who own it and found it lacking or who are on the fence. I discovered through a group of online buddies I played Arma with for a while, a modset that I find turns Minecraft more into "my" type of game: Tekkit Lite

That modding community has evolved to the point that they have a client-side installer/sorter app, and quite an extensive library of mods to choose from called the Technic Platform

Minecraft vanilla only caught my attention for maybe 100 hours of play at most. But adding all those mods that allow you to build nuclear reactors, solar panels, high tech logistical sorting machines, rocket packs, blasters, extra-dimensional portals (that go to additional Minecraft worlds, with strange characteristics, etc.) . . . all this to say that, along with the community-engagement and sandbox natures of that game, its moddability and the open-source flavor of the game would seem to me to be central features of its popularity and success. I would almost go so far as to say that, the age of game piracy is over. Games that are still protecting themselves and making their code inaccessible are generally not going to be of interest, and those which are highly moddable do not it seems tend to be vulnerable to piracy anyhow. Rather than would-be pirates wanting to get an illegal free copy, it would seem they are willing to pony up the $10 (or whatever it was to own a Minecraft account) just to be legit and be able to be a member of the communities where the mods are accessed, discussed, and fiddled with. I think there is still a sizable chunk of Notch's code that you cannot get at without decompiling or otherwise hacking, hell there must be cause MS paid for the thing! [:D] Nonetheless, Minecraft is incredibly moddable, a 'feature' that tends to be relatively lacking from strategy and war games, at least historically.

As I said that tekkit and tekkit-lite modset has evolved into a whole 'family' of mods available via the technic pack site, and most of the work that has gone into seems to have been voluntary with only donation based or "premium/supporter account" based sources of revenue. To be sure there are a lot of under 20s playing Minecraft, but there are a lot of over 20s and even 30 to 40 year old people playing the game too. The most successful game servers are run by adults, and it is clear that most of the mods are developed by adults; maybe childlike and geeky adults, but quite intellectually competent, intelligent folks nonetheless. I do not have data to back it up, but I get the sense that the online and server-based communities that make up the Minecraft user base and modder/user online culture is actually very diverse.

ADDIT: oops, I certainly did not mean to neglect Rutins admiration of Rush ;)

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ORIGINAL: PipFromSlitherine

It's LEGO. LEGO! Not LEGOs. Honestly! It's like sheep.

#pethate (not you Pet).

Notch is a great example of someone who listened and worked with his community as it grew, and built a game that carried people with him. That said, as per Iain, he got attention at just the right time, became wider known, etc. My buddy did pretty much the same great community and development work on his Neo Scavenger, and has gotten some attention too, but I don't think he's a billionaire quite yet [:)]. It's an interesting question given the talk from a Unity dev on word of mouth verses traditional discovery. The link for which I cannot find even though I was reading it last night, but forgot to Pocket it...

Cheers

Pip


I'd love to read that Unity devs words if you can find the link Pip.
The x-ray is her siren song. My ship cannot resist her long. Nearer to my deadly goal. Until the black hole. Gains control...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkIIlkyZ ... playnext=3
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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by PipFromSlitherine »

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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by Jeffrey H. »

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Minecraft is not so much as game as really a version of LEGOs for the computer. A gigantic interactive sandbox and kids absolutely love it because of that. I think the degree of its success was surprising for everyone, but not that it succeeded at all. The amount of work he put into it is also pretty staggering and becomes clear as you tinker around with it - there are many layers of discovery and creation.

Really though, I'm in this thread to voice my support for Anthropoid's signature:
The x-ray is her siren song. My ship cannot resist her long. Nearer to my deadly goal. Until the black hole. Gains control...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkIIlkyZ ... playnext=3

Through the void
To be destroyed
Or is there something more?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz_6N0osLCI

Regards,

- Erik

Cygnus X-1, a great one for sure.

Atomized, at the core
or through the Astral door
to soar ?

[begin awesome guitar section]

I set a course south east of lyra
and northwest of Pegasus

...



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Ranger33
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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by Ranger33 »

Anyone who thinks Minecraft is just "whacking trees and digging holes in the ground" has not experienced the game at all. There is just so much more that people have done with the game. For example, people have created simple computers/calculators within the game using the Red Stone blocks. Then of course there are endless other creations of various artistry and complexity.

I actually bought the game way back when it was like $5 and they had only just added in the Survival mode that is the main part of the game now. It was LEGOs [;)] in video game form, the child within me could not ask for more. I found a good server for awhile and it was just great. We built our own little village with shops and roads, then an arena for gladiator combat, and other general silliness. I had a personal castle with a lava waterfall (lavafall?) and moat. Great game.
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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by chemkid »

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Anthropoid
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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by Anthropoid »

ORIGINAL: chemkid

funny fact: it was minecraft that brought to matrix games in the first place!
minecraft = zombies
zombies = dayz
dayz - arma2
arma2 = 'i need a new pc (or a different game...)'
different game = matrix games
matrix/slitherine = panzer corps
... you know the rest. [8D]
but I refuse to install java on any system I own, which is kind of funny, because it's one of the languages I have to program in at work
[:D] ...and you know why!! [:D]

...before minecraft i was have a splendid time with phython and mentalray... aww, those times... [8|]

cheers! have fun and god bless our later generations with minecraft instead of minesweeper pre-installed!
robert

+1 Awesome story [:D]

For me it was Civ3 Conquests which brought me to Matrix. This must have been circa 2006 or 2007. I was lamenting how "simplistic and lacking in details" the military model is in Civ. For example I was saying things like "It is just absurd that ALL combat ends in one of two ways: you win and destroy enemy unit, or they win and destroy YOUR unit! [:@] Units should retreat!" Also I can remember that the lack of detail about unit size, equipment, training level, etc., etc., etc. was an annoyance to me (though I played the hell out of Civ3 Conquests and achieved what was likely my greatest PBEM feat of all time: I beat three human opponents playing as Japanese in the War in the Pacific scenario in that game!).

Imagine my delight when another forumite at the civ forum I was on suggested I have a look at Matrix games. WiTP and ToAW were pretty much exactly what I was looking for at that time and I had some serious good times learning to play and approach mastery of those old gems.

DayZ, Arma2, and Panzer Corps: all, also great games!
The x-ray is her siren song. My ship cannot resist her long. Nearer to my deadly goal. Until the black hole. Gains control...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkIIlkyZ ... playnext=3
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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by Erik Rutins »

ORIGINAL: PipFromSlitherine
It's LEGO. LEGO! Not LEGOs. Honestly! It's like sheep.

I see... http://painintheenglish.com/case/4639/ [8D]
Erik Rutins
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Erik Rutins
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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by Erik Rutins »

ORIGINAL: Jeffrey H.
Cygnus X-1, a great one for sure.

Atomized, at the core
or through the Astral door
to soar ?

[begin awesome guitar section]

I set a course south east of lyra
and northwest of Pegasus

Yes, perhaps we need a new Rush thread? [:D]
Erik Rutins
CEO, Matrix Games LLC


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For official support, please use our Help Desk: http://www.matrixgames.com/helpdesk/

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gradenko2k
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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by gradenko2k »

It's important to note that Minecraft was not the first game of its kind. DOTA also wasn't the first game of its kind, and neither was Counter-Strike, and neither was Call of Duty, and so on and so forth.
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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by warspite1 »

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

ORIGINAL: PipFromSlitherine
It's LEGO. LEGO! Not LEGOs. Honestly! It's like sheep.

I see... http://painintheenglish.com/case/4639/ [8D]
warspite1

Well I'm with pip on this [;)]

Let's be clear - it's Lego.

Thank-you.[:)]
Now Maitland, now's your time!

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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by Anthropoid »

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

ORIGINAL: PipFromSlitherine
It's LEGO. LEGO! Not LEGOs. Honestly! It's like sheep.

I see... http://painintheenglish.com/case/4639/ [8D]

That is all well and good. But I have to question the credibility of those claims, given the egregious and agonizing typo on line 11:

"a separate issue" not "a sparate issue." [:-]

ORIGINAL: gradenko_2000

It's important to note that Minecraft was not the first game of its kind. DOTA also wasn't the first game of its kind, and neither was Counter-Strike, and neither was Call of Duty, and so on and so forth.

A good point, but could you elaborate?

Also, what game would you think of that was actually "the first of its kind" in reference to the "type" of game Minecraft is?
The x-ray is her siren song. My ship cannot resist her long. Nearer to my deadly goal. Until the black hole. Gains control...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkIIlkyZ ... playnext=3
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PipFromSlitherine
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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by PipFromSlitherine »

When I was working with Lego, at Lego HQ in Denmark (no - sadly - it's not constructed from Lego) at no point was Lego ever s-erized. It's an entirely North American affectation (like ****ing 'erbs rather than herbs). The grammar claims don't make much sense - it entirely depends upon the specific name. Would anyone say "go pick up all your meccanos"? No - partly because it's awkward to say, much like Legos.

Anyway - perhaps dragging the thread OT [:)]

Cheers

Pip
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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by berto »

ORIGINAL: Iain McNeil

Sales wise we're in the millions or tens of millions, but I couldn't tell you how many as its not a stat we track. We have a fair number of games which have sold more than 200,000 units on their own, some of them multiples of that number :)
Straight from the horse's mouth.

I am quite surprised that this went by without comment. A real eye opener. We should sticky this post somewhere. So the next time some outsider "expert" [8|] opines about how Matrix/Slitherine "surely" or "likely" only sells games by the several thousands or tens of thousands, we'll know better.
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t001001001
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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by t001001001 »

These threads seem so ignorant. The Matrixgames guys are privy to all the information they need to hand and have been in bidness at least a decade. They know what they're going or they don't. They probably know what they're doing. Threads like this are ponderous. Stop speculating [8|] It's none of ur bidness anyway. As if there isn't already enough on ur own plate. Let them guys worry about what they're doing. They seem to be doing OK w/o ur advice.
gradenko2k
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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by gradenko2k »

A good point, but could you elaborate?

Also, what game would you think of that was actually "the first of its kind" in reference to the "type" of game Minecraft is?

By this I mean Minecraft was not the first game to attempt "open-world, sandbox construction with large, voxel-type blocks". There have been attempts to make such games starting in the early 2000s. Minecraft just happened to be the one to really catch on.

The most apt analogy I can think of would be that between Strategic Command, Commander Europe at War and Strategic War in Europe, one of them became hugely more popular and successful than the other two.
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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by Ranger33 »

ORIGINAL: berto

ORIGINAL: Iain McNeil

Sales wise we're in the millions or tens of millions, but I couldn't tell you how many as its not a stat we track. We have a fair number of games which have sold more than 200,000 units on their own, some of them multiples of that number :)
Straight from the horse's mouth.

I am quite surprised that this went by without comment. A real eye opener. We should sticky this post somewhere. So the next time some outsider "expert" [8|] opines about how Matrix/Slitherine "surely" or "likely" only sells games by the several thousands or tens of thousands, we'll know better.

I was a bit shocked by this to be honest, but I was so hung up on commenting about Minecraft I didn't say anything. Certainly puts to rest recent suggestions by another wargame dev that Matrix is only transitioning a lot of games to Steam because their sales numbers are "very unimpressive."
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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by Jim D Burns »

ORIGINAL: Ranger33
I was a bit shocked by this to be honest, but I was so hung up on commenting about Minecraft I didn't say anything. Certainly puts to rest recent suggestions by another wargame dev that Matrix is only transitioning a lot of games to Steam because their sales numbers are "very unimpressive."

Raises the question though, are the numbers stated Steam numbers or was Matrix selling these kinds of unit sales numbers prior to releasing their stuff on Steam? After watching Paradox abandon the "community" after they saw big sales increases on Steam, I suspect these might be Steam numbers as Matrix has never released numbers in the past.

Personally I think it’s great, just so long as they don’t follow Paradox to the dark side and begin to dumb down their games to get even more sales numbers on Steam. The all mighty dollar is a huge carrot at the end of a stick, staying true to “wargaming” and keeping the games complex is counter-intuitive to larger sales numbers. Time will tell if Matrix can resist the urge to go mainstream or not.

Jim
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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by gradenko2k »

I find the implication that putting up War in the East on Steam and letting it sell purely on its own merits would not yield a net increase in sales to be more than a little condescending.
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RE: Why is Marcus Persson a Billionaire?

Post by Pvt_Grunt »

Update from the Grunt household... Minecraft is out now, it's Terraria now. Similar game with mining and crafting but it's a 2D sidescroller ala Duke Nukem! Once again the kids heard about from friends which supports Pip's argument.
Also, lots of Youtube vids, mods, upgrades etc which gamers like.

It just goes to show,
1 - new games like TV shows will copy and build on successful ones. It may be unimaginative, but it is good business.
2 - Microsoft will always buy something at an outrageous price just as it begins to wane in popularity!
3 - Rush will never die, it will survive the coming holocaust, especially 2112.
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