Minecraft is one of the biggest games on the planet. Valve is perhaps the most beloved video game developer around. Imagine, for a moment, if the two had somehow joined forces. Finished? OK, now remember: it could actually have happened.
All Things D is running an excerpt from Minecraft: The Unlikely Tale of Markus ‘Notch’ Persson and the Game that Changed Everything, a book originally written in Swedish in 2011 but whose English version has only just hit shelves. The chapter up on the site details a visit Minecraft’s creator, Markus “Notch” Persson, paid to Valve in 2010. One which could have had a massive impact on the gaming world.
It’s not news; YouTube videos and studio tours said much the same thing a few years back. But it is the first time we’ve got some more substantial details on the trip.
At the time, Minecraft was just starting to blow up, and after getting a call from Valve, Persson – who demanded first-class tickets – was flown to the company’s offices for a tour. Which quickly turned into a job interview.
While told that he was “not used to working in a group”, a Valve HR rep told Persson that he was a “gifted programmer”, and offered him a position with the company.
Describing it “as one of the hardest decisions of his life”, Persson said no.
“Somehow”, he says, “I felt that Minecraft was maybe my chance to create a Valve, rather than work at Valve.”
You should read the full thing, if only because it also tells the story of how he first picked out his trademark hat.
How Minecraft Creator Markus Persson Almost Took a Job at Valve [All Things D, Image: Machinima]
Comments
12 responses to “The Story Of How Notch Turned Down A Job At Valve”
He’s effectively made his own brand, his own history, and a shitload of money to boot. He doesn’t need a job at Valve.
But brilliant engineers bouncing off of each other? come oooon.
“Oh, you would like me to come to Valve HQ? Fly economy? Hahaha….no.”
Good. I don’t want that guy near anything that I care about.
I don’t see the point of this article. Notch decided to go into business himself, good for him. If he joined Valve most of the profits would’ve been suckered to Valve.
A fedora origin story?
*Spoilers*
the standard myths most fedora adopters falsely believe are that a fedora will:
1. grant me a demeanor of sophistication
2. bestow confidence or at least help compensate for my awkwardness
3. be my quirky trademark that no one else has thought of
Except that’s not a fedora, it’s a trilby. Most fedora wearers don’t know they are wearing a trilby.
Huh, now you got me second guessing myself. Would you believe I worked in costuming for about 10 years doing stuff for theaters and occasionally movies? It seems to have the wider brim of a fedora but I can’t see the top to see if it has that signature slope
So now I know the difference between a fedora and a trilby – this was honestly the last thing I was expecting to learn when I came to Kotaku today! 🙂
Hmm maybe you’re right… It looks deceptive. Notch looks like he has a big head and he could be wearing a smaller fedora thus making it look like a trilby? Who knows.
I wasn’t so much disputing what Notch was wearing, more a jab at the wider community as I know most the fedora brigade seem to wear lots of trilby’s and say they are wearing a fedora without knowing.
This is coming from a fedora owner who doesn’t wear it due to climate and the now association of this style of hats and the idiots that wear them. I still have my Panama though!
-tips fedora-
This is an old article from US kotaku. When these guys were having problems I was being redirected to the US site, It was much better than this as these are mostly old stories from there. Surely there could be some sort of repost bot, you could even program it to have a personality to make it more animated than this motley crew of cutpastas.