Game life, approached Minecraft behind the Wizards Markus Persson

Persson was bald and bulky, with a brown shaggy beard. He treats people kindly, but often seems to have some reservations and laughs almost as though he had smoked.

He independently developed Minecraft in 2009, and later established Mojang with Jakob Porser, which is now valued at $2 billion, with only 35 employees. Persson also became Sweden's biggest taxpayer.

Every Friday, Persson let his employees play games or do their own personal projects, while other working hours did not push them too hard. The Office has a pool table, pinball machine, screening room and jukebox, and one wall is an oil painting by employees in the style of the 19th century artist.

Persson is a fun person, he often holds some party and invites the professional DJ. In 2011, he asked Deadmau5 (the top Canadian DJ) to perform at a party in Las Vegas, and it is said that Prince Harry of England secretly came to the event. In 2012, he turned a street in Paris into a world of fireworks and LED lights, to the Skrillex (American DJ) and A-trak (the Canadian DJ) to perform. Last year, Persson invited all the staff and their wives to visit Monaco. They took a special plane, drove a Ferrari, took a helicopter, and opened a party on a yacht. Mojang co-founder Porser says he wants the company to be a place where employees always want to work.

As early as 2011, Persson had given Minecraft control to the chief developer Jens Bergensten. During David Peisner's three-day interview with Persson, in addition to the very short interview, most of the time Persson was playing a first-person shooter game, "unowned Land 2" (Borderlands 2). Persson said that there had been a period of time in addition to programming, he did nothing, but the difference, he some miss that day, but he will and Porser take his family to the Maldives travel 10 days, there is no reason to start writing code.

Persson lived in a small town called Edsbyn in the north of Stockholm as a child. His father was a railroad worker and his mother was a nurse. When Persson was 7 years old, his family moved to Stockholm and his parents divorced when he was 12. His father moved to a cottage in the country, plagued by depression, alcoholism and drug abuse, which had been difficult for years. On December 14, 2011, his father killed himself after being drunk with a pistol, which Persson a heavy blow.

Persson7 years old began to use a Commodore 128 computer self-learning programming, he did not finish high school, but he was 18 years old in a web design company to find a job, 2000, he worked in several technology companies to do different jobs.

Stockholm is the home of indie games, and Persson and Porser met at work at a game studio called King. Porser thinks Persson is very interesting and a bit eccentric, he is very happy sometimes, sometimes very unhappy, there is little middle state.

In 2009, Persson spent a week in his spare time writing the first version of Minecraft. Selling 20,000 copies in the first year, Persson the idea was to make a game and make enough money to play the next game. At the end of 2010, however, Minecraft sold up to 20,000 copies a day. In June 2013, Minecraft's total sales had exceeded 11 million. The game community is growing, players are making instructional videos, proposing bugs, offering podcasts, and telling their adventures. Minecraft is not only a game, but a platform. Persson is the most famous person in the game, and he now has 1.6 million Twitter followers.

Persson 2011 and Elin Zetterstrand married, Zetterstrand think Persson looks very good, very intelligent but also some melancholy. But they soon divorced again, Persson that the success of his career more or less led to the breakup of the relationship. Once upon a time he had no chance to explore the world of excellence, only to stay at home, learning programming. Then everything changed, he had the opportunity to do whatever he wanted to do, he could go to New York at any time, which made their lives full of misfortune.

Now, Persson lives alone in a mansion in the rich district of Stockholm. Persson didn't like the apartment, which was empty, white and strangely shaped, and looked like a fortress in medieval mountains. Everything is in the room: The open kitchen is rarely used, with a wine cellar. Stairs Guide The second floor of the game room, three floors only a chair, through the window to see the perfect view of Stockholm.

Asked if he had a girlfriend now, Persson smiled and said, "I don't want to call it a girlfriend, but if I say I don't have a girlfriend, a woman will be unhappy." ’”

Persson thinks he is a very impractical house now, playing games, people outside the elevator can hear gunfire, he said he is a very typical Swede, do not want to disturb the neighbor's life. He spent a huge sum of money in Stockholm and bought a house, not finished, he moved in after the handover.

Persson the money, and this March, he had a big fundraising campaign in San Francisco. He said: "It's stupid to spend money, but why not?" Money is still possible to come back and do something. ”

Now, Persson has not found Minecraft suitable successor, he has a 10-year plan for employees. "I hope Mojang can keep making money, but it doesn't matter if I don't make any money," he said. We could play 10, and then, in the last year, we said to our employees, ' if we don't make any more money this year, Mojang will be screwed. ' So you'd better find a new job. ’”

That sounds lightweight, but Persson thinks it's a relief to stress, he says:

I think the only way to do an interesting thing is not to expect it. (I am the only way I could make something fun and a is if I don ' t expect it to be.)