[QUOTE][IMG]http://media.edge-online.com/files/imagecache/article/articles/news/carl_manneh.png[/IMG]
Minecraft developer Mojang has three unannounced projects in the works - and two of them will be announced, if not released, in the first half of the year.
The first project, CEO Carl Manneh tells us, is the new game from Minecraft lead Markus "Notch" Persson. His new project isn't shrouded in secrecy as such: it's just not very far along, with Persson passing the Minecraft torch to Jens Bergensten last month and duly taking a well-deserved break.
"What it is today, I don't think he knows himself," Manneh says. "We certainly don't. It's probably going to be a lot of testing and playing around to see what works."
For many, Notch is the face of Minecraft, and therefore Mojang's success, and Manneh is aware that the Swedish studio needs to establish itself as a brand in 2012. "I think Notch will always be the fixed star over a long period of time, because he's Notch," he says. "But we don't look at it that way - he gets a lot of attention, but other people in the company do too. So it's not something we're actively concerned about."
Manneh is confident that the other two projects - which he reveals will certainly be announced, and possibly even released, in the first half of 2012 - will do much to reduce the perceived reliance on Persson.
"I think that comes with the new games we're creating," he says. "They will have a big impact on Mojang over the next year. I can't talk about them, because we have NDAs with companies. Otherwise, we want to be very transparent about everything we do, but in this case we can't."
The above are extracts from a ten-page Mojang feature in our latest issue, with input from Manneh as well as co-founder Jakob Porser, newly appointed Minecraft lead Jens Bergensten and Paddy Burns of 4J Studios, which is handling the Xbox Live Arcade port. E237 should be with subscribers any day now, and on shelves next Tuesday, January 17.[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://www.edge-online.com/news/mojang-working-three-new-games"]As seen[/URL] on EDGE.
So Notch you going to actually finish it or have another Minecraft?
Fuck off, Notch.
Finish one game before you start another.
[quote]His new project isn't shrouded in secrecy as such: it's just not very far along[/quote]
Jeez, whoda thunk it?
[QUOTE]with Persson passing the Minecraft torch to Jens Bergensten last month and duly taking a well-deserved break.[/QUOTE]
[i]Another[/i] vacation?
[quote] and duly taking a well-deserved break[/quote]
and how many breaks will this be?
damn ninjas are everywhere
So he's simply going to abandon Scrolls?
[QUOTE=Rents;34241649][i]Another[/i] vacation?[/QUOTE]
"Well-deserved break".
Because the other 20 "breaks" didnt count I guess sweet.
[editline]16th January 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Hoboharry;34241692]So he's simply going to abandon Scrolls?[/QUOTE]
Nope, just gonna hand it off.
Welcome to a Notch game! It's always been like this. Ever heard of Wurm Online?
[QUOTE=Hoboharry;34241692]So he's simply going to abandon Scrolls?[/QUOTE]
I think we can all live without another card game.
I'm glad he gave Minecraft over to Jeb, I've been starting to dislike Notch.
Didn't he mention a space trading game a while ago?
Why is this news and nobody really cares because notch is a ego based developer.
I doubt that any of them will get the popularity of minecraft, and 3 at the same time? They will be probably stuck in development longer than minecraft did.
Notch is what happens when an ideas guy gets a shaky grip on coding, but does not eject all its mass. Which you may have noticed recently.
How about you actually fix and finish the first game you promised us first, you cuntfaces.
[QUOTE=Sir_takeslot;34241639]Fuck off, Notch.
Finish one game before you start another.[/QUOTE]
It specifically says Notch isn't working on the others.
Mojang is trying to show that it isn't dependent on Notch and can create games without his supervision.
Oh oh I am so excited for Scrolls I can't sleep at night. And cobold is like sex in my brain.
[QUOTE=The golden;34242091]Doesn't matter. As long as Notch is a part of that company it won't go anywhere. He has the business management skills of a goat.[/QUOTE]
He isn't CEO. The article says while he is the "face" of Mojang, this year they're aiming to grow outside of him.
Besides, his bad management skills won't be an issue with all the vacations away he takes :v:
I don't understand why everybody has such a big issue with this. Mojang is nowhere near as small as it used to be, and they obviously have different teams working on different stuff at the same time.
I know it isn't really much of a comparison, but take a look at Valve. They have loads of different teams working on different stuff at the same time (TF2, CS:GO, DotA 2, and god knows how many other unnanounced titles). Having a system like this means that you can reduce costs by shuffling developers around to where they are needed rather than laying them off when you finish a single title.
[QUOTE=AaRoNg11;34242224]I don't understand why everybody has such a big issue with this. Mojang is nowhere near as small as it used to be, and they obviously have different teams working on different stuff at the same time.
I know it isn't really much of a comparison, but take a look at Valve. They have loads of different teams working on different stuff at the same time (TF2, CS:GO, DotA 2, and god knows how many other unnanounced titles). Having a system like this means that you can reduce costs by shuffling developers around to where they are needed rather than laying them off when you finish a single title.[/QUOTE]
The problem is that the games mojang spits out shouldn't require "teams"
[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;34242279]The problem is that the games mojang spits out shouldn't require "teams"[/QUOTE]
To think that any game can be developed by a single person from start to finish is pretty naive. It might be possible to throw out a few prototypes as a lone developer, but once you start polishing it chances are you just won't be able to handle all aspects of the development, management and other stuff on your own. Most programmers aren't artists and vice versa. And if you do somehow manage to pull the previous two areas off entirely on your own, good luck maintaining the company, finances, website and customer support while still finding time to sleep and eat.
[QUOTE=AaRoNg11;34242224]I don't understand why everybody has such a big issue with this. Mojang is nowhere near as small as it used to be, and they obviously have different teams working on different stuff at the same time.
I know it isn't really much of a comparison, but take a look at Valve. They have loads of different teams working on different stuff at the same time (TF2, CS:GO, DotA 2, and god knows how many other unnanounced titles). Having a system like this means that you can reduce costs by shuffling developers around to where they are needed rather than laying them off when you finish a single title.[/QUOTE]
1) Valve have more experienced staff, the person responsible for Mojang released a buggy clone of another game, which wouldn't have been anywhere near the state it is now if it wasn't for Jeb.
2) Valve have more staff working for them, this means that roles can be spread out more so the development process is shorter, so therefore more projects can be handled at once.
3) Valve weren't popping out games this regularly when they started up, Mojang is a young business, existing for only 1-2 years. They're biting off more than they can chew.
4) Valve don't release unfinished games, everything they do afterwards is fixing bugs, and adding even more content on to their games, usually for free. And don't start all that shit about "hurghh you bought minecraft before it was released, u can't complain!!", because a) The amount of time it was on sale before the intended 'official' release was so great that you couldn't really afford to wait, as everyone else would've been bored of the game before its release date (which has happened) and b) Despite the game being 'officially' released now, there is still a bunch of stuff that NEEDS adding, and there are also lots of bugs that need fixing.
Mojang are overestimating the size of their company and their abilities. Instead of so thinly spreading out their resources to make 4 games, they should all just focus on one, and get that finished to the point of perfection, and then start working on another game. Also 'Scrolls' is terrible.
The Industry's most successful Ideas guy
I think someone needs to get Mojang on a clear path, it just seems scattered and messy business wise.
[QUOTE=AaRoNg11;34242367]To think that any game can be developed by a single person from start to finish is pretty naive. It might be possible to throw out a few prototypes as a lone developer, but once you start polishing it chances are you just won't be able to handle all aspects of the development, management and other stuff on your own. Most programmers aren't artists and vice versa. And if you do somehow manage to pull the previous two areas off entirely on your own, good luck maintaining the company, finances, website and customer support while still finding time to sleep and eat.[/QUOTE]No one even mentioned single developer, stop pulling bullshit out of your ass.
I think if they continued to develop minecraft, expand and polish it they'd get more money out of that than they will out of these games after screwing over people who bought minecraft. The entire reason they exist has been ignored, and an update a couple of months after the game's release contains essentially less than a small content patch for Team Fortress.
Even from a money-hungry perspective, it makes more sense to continue to develop minecraft even if they no longer have any passion for it.
In otherwords they have no idea where to go.
People will actually buy these
Oh god please no
Jasun - I understand that Mojang are a much smaller company, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. The development process used for Minecraft meant that Mojang were able to create a game without relying on a third party publisher. I doubt it would have ever passed the prototype stage had they not decided to take the approach they did. And it paid off big time.
Taking an agile approach like this means that the developers are in touch with the customers from a very early stage. Feedback can be taken into account and the game modified appropriately. Obviously there are some drawbacks from this kind of approach, and there will always be dissatisfied customers.
You have to realise that publishers will often look at a really fun game and reject it due to the fact that it "isn't mainstream enough". By self publishing, Mojang are basically cutting this out and must therefore assume some of the risk themselves. By working on a number of smaller projects at the same time, they are essentially minimising any potential financial losses. If it becomes clear that one of the projects isn't what the thought it was going to be, they can scrap it without a great deal of cost early in the lifecycle. Not every project is going to be successful. If they put all their resources into a single title which flumps, there is a very strong possibility that the company itself is going to sink along with it.
[quote="AceOfDivine"]No one even mentioned single developer, stop pulling bullshit out of your ass.[/quote]
[quote="AceOfDivine"]The problem is that the games mojang spits out shouldn't require "teams"[/quote]
