Markus Persson Created ‘Minecraft’ in Only a Week. Now, It’s a Smash Hit Movie

1979–present

Markus Persson, better known by his gaming handle Notch, is the Swedish video game programmer who created Minecraft. Notch began writing computer code by age 8 and, although he never finished high school, landed a programming job when he was 18. It wasn’t long before he was creating his own games on the side, and his first release in 2009’s Minecraft became a colossal international success. The sandbox-style game—one of the most influential video games in history—has spurred multiple spinoffs and the 2025 live-action film A Minecraft Movie. In 2014, Notch and his cofounders sold their company, Mojang, and the game that put the developer on the map to Microsoft for $2.5 billion.

FULL NAME: Markus Alexej Persson
BORN: June 1, 1979
BIRTHPLACE: Stockholm, Sweden
SPOUSE: Elin Zetterstand (2011–2012)
CHILD: Minna
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Gemini

Notch, who real name is Markus Alexej Persson, was born in Stockholm on June 1, 1979. The Swedish boy grew up in the small town of Edsbyn, surrounded by forests that would later influence his video game design for Minecraft.

Persson was an obsessive Lego builder until he was 7 and his father brought home a Commodore 128 computer. The boy latched right on to the point of faking stomachaches to stay home from school and write code. By the time he was 8, he had written his first computer program.

The computer whiz never finished high school, but he had been teaching himself how to write code ever since his dad gave him the Commodore. To bolster his natural talent, his mother made him take an online programming course. His experience led to a programming job when he was 18.

After a few more gigs, in 2004, he landed with Midasplayer (now King), the company known for such hugely popular titles as Candy Crush. There, Persson befriended fellow developer Jakob Porsér. It wasn’t long before Persson and Porsér were writing their own games, but their Midasplayer bosses didn’t like the attention these games were garnering the duo. So in 2009, Persson left Midasplayer for jAlbum and began spending all his free time creating.

Notch wrote his first big game, Minecraft, in just a week. He rushed through it simply so he could get to his next idea. The developer initially called it “Cave Game” then Minecraft: Order of the Stone before settling on the simplified name we know today. The premise of the game is similarly straightforward: players collect various implements and natural resources from the open-world, Lego-like playing field to build houses, cities, or whatever else they envision.

Despite Notch’s launching the game in May 2009 before he even considered it finished, Minecraft struck a chord with players, and soon it became something of a phenomenon, with 400 copies selling per day for about $6 dollars per download. That success ended both Notch’s and his friend Jakob Porsér’s life of working for other people, and they started their own business, Mojang, with Carl Manneh. The company’s name means “gadget” in Swedish.

Minecraft moved about 20,000 downloads in its first year, but by the end of the next year, it was often getting that many downloads per day. With the added sales came a huge and ever-growing group of players, and Minecraft became as much a community as a game. Without a doubt, Persson was the witty, often cantankerous mayor of the realm. His large online presence as Notch, his gaming handle, made him into a gaming superstar. His social media accounts are also under Notch or similar variations.

Sale of Mojang

Unfortunately, Notch’s success was tempered with tragedy. In December 2011, his father died by suicide. What followed was the beginning of a new project, 0x10c, then the abandonment of that same project and a creative dry spell.

Editor’s Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or self-harming behaviors, call or text 988 to get help from the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Still, Notch was riding the Minecraft train, and May 2012 saw its xBox release sell more than 1 million units in the first week alone. That year, Mojang had around $230 million in sales. As time went on, Notch was getting burned out, and a tweet he sent out in June 2014—“Anyone want to buy my share of Mojang so I can move on with my life?”—made his phone ring off the hook.

By September, he and his cofounders had sold Mojang to Microsoft for $2.5 billion. To celebrate, Notch bought a 23,000-square-foot home in Beverly Hills, California, that was worth $70 million. Despite the sale and apparent boost to his bank account, he admitted to suffering from depression and isolation a year later in a series of social media posts.

Minecraft Movie and Cultural Impact

More than 15 years after its debut, Minecraft is considered one of the most influential video games of all time. In June 2020, the title was inducted to the World Video Game Hall of Fame. Five years later, the U.S. Library of Congress added the game’s 2011 soundtrack “Minecraft: Volume Alpha” to the National Recording Registry, a preservation program. It marked the second video game recording to be added, following the Super Mario Bros. theme in 2023.

As the video game was recognized for its cultural importance, plans were underway to see it take on a new form. In February 2014, Notch shared on Twitter (now X) that Warner Brothers pictures was in talks to adapt Minecraft into a feature-length movie. Finally after more than a decade of discussions and production, the studio released A Minecraft Movie, starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa, in April 2025. In its opening weekend, the title earned $163 million at the domestic box office, setting a record for video game adaptations on the big screen, and more than $300 million globally.

Notch didn’t have a role in the making of the movie but praised the initial trailer when it premiered in September 2024. “For a movie about a game with literally zero plot, it looks surprisingly fun,” he said.

With the success of Minecraft and later sale of Mojang, Notch has built a sizable fortune. Forbes estimates Persson’s net worth at $1.3 billion as of April 2025, placing him among the world’s 2,500 wealthiest individuals.

Persson married computer programmer Elin Zetterstrand in 2011, but their relationship ended in divorce the following year. The couple have one child, a daughter named Minna.

In the years following the emergence of Minecraft, Notch sparked controversy for some of his social media comments over political topics. In a 2017 Twitter (now X) post, he shared his support for a “Heterosexual Pride Day” in response to various LGBTQ pride celebrations and suggested people against the idea “deserve to be shot.” Notch also called feminism a “social disease” and, in 2019, encouraged followers to believe QAnon conspiracy theories posited by the titular 4chan user.

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Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he’s not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.