Minecraft Creator Notch Sparks Debate: “Piracy Isn’t Theft If Games Aren’t Truly Owned”
Minecraft creator Markus “Notch” Persson caused a stir with a provocative statement about the “Stop Killing Games” initiative: If the purchase of a game is not a real possession, piracy cannot be considered theft, according to the Swede.
Notch basically questions game seat
The discussion about the preservation of online games has gained considerably dynamics in the past few weeks. Now Minecraft creator Markus “Notch” Persson also speaks up and, with a clear positioning, causes a sensation in the gaming community. In a contribution on the platform X (formerly Twitter), the Swedish programmer explained: “If the purchase of a game is not a real purchase, then the download of pirated copies is also not theft.” Persson thus refers to the current debate about licenses instead of possession of digital game purchases.
Many players have long criticized the fact that they only acquire a usage license for digital purchases that can be revoked at any time – this becomes particularly clear when servers are switched off and titles become completely unplayable. As a solution to the problem of server shutdowns, Notch suggested: “host your own server.
That is what all games made earlier.” The context for Person’s statements is the “Stop Killing Games” initiative, which is currently getting a lot of attention. The online petition has now collected over 1.3 million signatures, such as PCGAMESN reported. It calls on legislators to support the preservation of games and to protect “the consumer rights to maintain video games” even after the publisher is terminated.
Long -term attitude to piracy
Notch is no stranger to the discussion about game piracy. As early as 2012, he gave a Minecraft fan who could not afford the game, the permission to copy it: “Download the pirate. If you like it and you can afford it later, then buy it. And don’t forget to feel bad.” Chase The Skies: Minecraft published the biggest update in a long time
At the Game Developers Conference 2011, Persson even directly explained to his colleagues that piracy was not theft. He argued that the theft of a car was less in the world, while when copying a game there was simply more copies and a new fan may be obtained.
The man behind Minecraft
Markus Persson has an impressive career. The Swede, born on June 1, 1979, is known under his pseudonym notch and created the best -selling video game in history with Minecraft. In 2009 he founded the Mojang Studios. Persson started developing video games at a young age. His commercial success began after publishing an early version of Minecraft in 2009.
Before the official market launch in 2011, the game had already sold over ten million copies. In 2014, Person Mojang and the rights to Minecraft sold to Microsoft for $ 2.5 billion – a deal that made him one of the richest game developers in the world.
