Notch steps down as lead Minecraft developer

Markus "Notch" Persson announced on Dec. 2 that he will be stepping down as the lead developer of Minecraft, which he created.
"As of yesterday, Jens Bergensten is the new lead developer on Minecraft. He will have the final say in all design decisions, so he will kinda sorta become my boss, I guess," Notch blogged on Dec. 2.
Jens Bergensten (Jeb) has been helping Notch all along, and now he will have the chance to take over a project.
"We’ve been working together on Minecraft for a year now, and I’m amazed at how much in synch we two are when it comes to how to design the game," Notch said. "And when we don’t agree, we discuss it and something much better comes out at a result. He’s truly a great person to work with, and I feel very confident handing over the leadership of Minecraft to him."
Jeb now plans to work on fixing bugs within the game and enabling players to leave notes on books and paper within the game.
Notch said he is going to use his extra time to work on his new collectible card game, Scrolls, and a new undisclosed project.

Notch released the first version of Minecraft in May 2009 and has been developing it since then.
Mojang, the game-developing company Notch started, sold over 4 million copies of Minecraft before it's official release in November 2011. The game has brought in over $50 million, and Notch has used that money to further resources.

Mojang now consists of 13 employees and is working on more games besides Minecraft.

Notch and Yogscast settle disputes

Graphic from "Inside Gaming Daily"

The Yogscast released their official statement last week about what occured at Minecon.

In the statement they said they were surprised at Markus "Notch" Persson's tweets.
"We are very disappointed by these tweets from someone we admire and respect. We can understand that it was the morning after the deadmau5 party and Notch was very tired, but we are still fairly upset," the statement said.

The Yogscast also denied a lot of allegations.
"Out of all the tweets that Notch sent out, most hurtful was the accusation that we told a kid to “f*** off” and crossed out another signature – which is something we would never ever do," the statement said.

It continued: "The quotes and actions that Notch attributed to us were not said by us or published anywhere by us. Therefore we are surprised and confused about where this stuff has come from - especially since the only time we spoke to Notch was at the interview."
But the Yogscast did admit to swearing at the show and using the F-word, but they pointed out that Mojang failed to give them instructions regarding that. They also said Mojang had sold rights to the Yogscast livestream without informing Yogscast.
The official statement ellicited an apology from Notch.
"It's likely the entire Yogscast scenario is just stress-related misunderstanding. I apologize for bringing it online before talking to them," Notch tweeted during Thanksgiving weekend.
The attacks on Notch from Yogscast fans gradually ceased. But to any that still came, Notch replied "I've already apologized."
Many fans support both Notch and Yogscast and were worried to see their relationship failing. Those fans are relieved to see them resolve their differences. But some fans wonder if Notch and the Yogscast staged the conflict as a publicity stunt.
Notch and the Yogscast were some of the first gamers to reach celebrity status. Game creators are not usually as well-known as the game they create. Since they have celebrity-status, it would not be surprising if this all was a publicity stunt.
Here is the Yogscast's official statement: http://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/mnau9/yogscast_response_to_notchs_twitterings/

Yogscast and Notch no more?

While Markus "Notch" Persson, the creator of Minecraft, is a rising celebrity among independent gamers, and the Yogscast are rising celebrities among YouTube viewers, it seems that the two entities have less in common than everyone thought.

At the first - and probably only - Minecraft convention, drama seemed to surround Simon Lane and Lewis Brindley of the Yogscast. In October, the Yogscast claimed their YouTube Minecraft series to be one of the reasons Minecraft has become so popular.

Mojang invited the Yogscast to attend Minecon and put on a panel there. Mojang claims that the Yogscast demanded to be paid while no other speakers at the convention were compensated.

Notch tweeted: "They called us "a bunch of nerds who don't know how to run a company", demanded that we pay them to come here (nobody else got paid)."

Notch tweeted a total of 8 tweets on November 11 just about this conflict.

Apparently it all started when the Yogscast said the F-word to a child. The Yogscast has not commented on the matter yet, but Notch tweeted: "A kid wanted them to sign something I had signed, and they said they'd cross it out and put 'f*** you' there instead."

"I'm very sorry about the behavior of the people we won't work with any more. Celebrity or not, you don't f-bomb kids," he said. Then verified who he was referring to by tweeting: "Yes, Yogscast."

Notch said that the Yogscast "repeatedly insulted people, talked behind their backs, refused to cooperate, and acted like total spoiled divas nonstop."

There has been much bantering between Minecraft fans on reddit.com and other forums. While some Minecraft attendees claim to have been treated poorly by the Yogscast, others shared positive experiences.

Notch has been receiving angry comments from thousands of "Yognaughts.

"Wow. Hate, insults and threats are flooding in from Yogscast fans," Notch said.

The Yogscast has not yet commented on the matter. MintyMinute, Yogscast's main administrator has been handling questions while Lane and Brindley consult with their P.R. and write an official statement.

"An Official statement/Vlog will be released when Simon, Lewis and Hannah return from Las Vegas to clarify what has happened. Hopefully this will clear everything up for everyone," MintyMinute posted on the Yogscast's facebook fan page.

"we aren't stalling in any way, we merely want to draft a coherent response, instead of raging in a con-flu/jet lagged state - have patience!" the Yogscast tweeted.

They followed up an hour ago with: "Still drafting what we want to say, between naps and calls to V.I.P.s - we want to give you the clearest idea of what went down."

Fans on both sides of the conflict continue to rage on over forums and tweets. And there have been reports of fans pretending to be the Yogscast and commenting on the forums. But the Yogscast said they have not taken any position or commented about it at all yet.

So fans await the Yogscast's statement.

Youtube sensation claims partial credit for Minecraft success

Lewis Brindley and Simon Lane from the YouTube sensation, the Yogscast, claim to be largely responsible for the popularity of Minecraft, according to an interview with Edge magazine.

"The entire game has had $0 spent on PR yet has sold 3.5 million copies - I think a large part of that is due to us," Brindley said.

The commentators said their Minecraft series on YouTube has helped Minecraft gain popularity. 

"We are Minecraft's PR! I think we enjoy a symbiotic relationship with Mojang and have definitely contributed to each other's success. I'm very thankful we've done so well out of it."

Minecraft and the Yogscast both skyrocketed around the same time that Brindley and Lane started making Minecraft videos.  And it is possible to see the similarities between the Yogscast and Minecraft. 

They both had small, humble beginnings and offered something unique in the entertainment market.  Minecraft was a new, revolutionary type of sandbox game, and the Yogscast was a new channel of gaming commentators who focused more on plot and comedy than on gameplay. 

The Yogscast has revolutionized gaming commentating; dozens of YouTube channels have attempted to follow their footsteps and replicate their style, but not many have had the same "oomph."

The Yogscast channel, under the name "Blue Xephos", receives over 80 million views month and recently surpassed 1 million subscribers. 

Lane and Brindley started their gaming commentary channel 3 years ago after meeting in the World of Warcraft guild, Ye Olde Goone Squad (YOGS, hence Yogscast.)

They initially made World of Warcraft videos, but when Lane introduced Brindley to the newly founded Minecraft, their channel took off.

The videos started out as a how to series to inform viewers about Minecraft.  About halfway through the season, a third character entered their gameplay, known only as Israphel.  Brindley and Lane were as surprised as viewers were that a stranger had accessed their server. 

Soon other characters entered and plots unfolded.  The series evolved to the "Shadow of Israphel" series.  In an interview with "gotgame.com" Brindley said the "Shadow of Israphel" crew includes friends, fans and "random people from many sources" who build the buildings and craft the plot. 

Brindley said he has to keep in contact with the other players so they all know when to log in to their multiplayer server.  So, Brindley knows a little of what is going to happen in each episode but they never inform Lane about it beforehand.

"Simon has literally zero idea about anything, which I think is crucial to the series," Brindley said.