Minecraft creator happy to be open about success

Markus ‘Notch’ Persson, creator of hit indie game Minecraft, has revealed why he chose to be open about the success he’s had with the title.

A counter on the game’s website shows how many people have purchased the game.

“Personally I like sharing that information, because I’m generally an open guy,” Persson told GamesIndustry.biz. “But it feels a bit sometimes like it’s a bragging page.

“That wasn’t the intention, because originally it was for the people who had bought the game could see like a number increase on a webpage or something. I think it’s a good sign, if you’re actually open with your development and you’re also open about the sales, it feels like you’re genuine in some sense.”

To date Minecraft has clocked 670,038 purchases, over 5,000 coming in the last 24 hours. Gamers are currently being charged $9.95 for the game in its alpha stage, but the cost will double to $20 when the game reaches beta.

If Persson has one regret it is the pricing, he explained.

“I think one kind of small problem with Minecraft is it’s kind of cheap, and people who want to pay more can’t pay more… If I had more business sense I probably would have raised the price a while ago. But I try to, if I promise something, stick to that…”

It’s always uplifting to hear a success story and Minecraft has proved to be just that in 2010. Persson’s openness with fans has earned him large and loyal fanbase, and it’s a strategy we’ve seen many of the major publishers adopt in an attempt to connect with the community. These days it’s rare to find a major release not backed by a community manager.