The Rise Of Mojang

Aaron Roles Presents:: 

Aaron Roles Presents: THE RISE OF MOJANG

INTRODUCTION: 

INTRODUCTION Mojang is the name of an independent Swedish game developing company. It was founded in May 2009 by Markus 'Notch' Persson. Mojang was made famous by the success and fortune of their game 'Minecraft'.

MINECRAFT: 

MINECRAFT Minecraft is a block-building game based in Java. It is a survival/creative game, however it is up to the gamer to decide what way to play. The gameplay is heavily inspired by Infiniminer and Dwarf Fortress .

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS: 

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS Initially, Mojang started off with just Notch in charge, developing Minecraft by himself. Minecraft went through many early developmental stages, such as “InDev”. The first notable stage of development was “Minecraft Alpha”. Minecraft Alpha was sold at a price of €9.95, with the promise of all future updates for free. Around 800,000 copies were sold during Alpha.

BECOMING A POWER: 

BECOMING A POWER Mojang's next step to becoming a force in the game industry was to put Minecraft in 'Beta'. Beta saw the price increase to €14.95, but this did not stop the influx of buyers. Minecraft left Beta in November 2011, with over four million sales. It was estimated in April 2011 that Mojang had earned $33m through Minecraft sales. Astonishing figures for a company less than 2 years old.

REACHING THE TOP: 

REACHING THE TOP On November 18 th 2011, Mojang celebrated the full release of it's title Minecraft. A launch party was held in Las Vegas to celebrate this milestone, called 'MineCon', and over 4500 players attended. As of writing, Mojang have over 17.5m people registered with Minecraft, with 4.3m of these buying the product. Minecraft: Pocket Edition is now available for iOS and Android. Meanwhile, an Xbox 360 version is in production - scheduled for Spring 2012.

STAYING AT THE TOP: 

STAYING AT THE TOP Two years later, Mojang now employs 12 people; including 3 artists, 3 developers and a “Director of Fun”. With Minecraft in full release stage, it is time for Mojang to move onto new projects. One such project is their new game 'Scrolls', currently in development. Scrolls will feature card collecting and board game elements.

CONTROVERSY: 

CONTROVERSY However, not everyone was happy with the development and progression of Mojang. In September 2011, Bethesda Softworks announced they would take Mojang to court over the naming of their game. Bethesda believed 'Scrolls' infringed the naming rights of their popular 'Elder Scrolls' series. In October 2011, Markus Persson announced that Mojang had won an interim injunction in court. This allowed Mojang to retain the name 'Scrolls' on their second game title.

FURTHER PROJECTS: 

FURTHER PROJECTS Mojang had always wanted to collaborate with other indie game companies. In August 2011, Mojang announced that they will be teaming up with Oxeye Game Studios to develop 'Cobalt'. Markus Persson announced that he plans on working on a small project titled 'Santa vs Cthulhu'.

CONCLUSIONS: 

CONCLUSIONS Mojang has come on leaps and bounds in the two and a half years of it's existence; going from a private project to a multi-million dollar title. The number of staff has grown from a single man to a dozen and this will surely continue to grow. This highlights the success of Mojang. The success of Minecraft can be an inspiration to all indie game developers out there, all you need is the right idea and creativity.

PowerPoint Presentation: 

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