Quotes from Markus Persson

'Minecraft' certainly became a huge hit, and people are telling me it's changed games. I never meant for it to do either. It's certainly flattering, and to gradually get thrust into some kind of public spotlight is interesting.

I remember disassembling and putting an old analog alarm clock together. It was a lot of fun figuring out why it still worked with that one spring missing.

By the nature of how a personal computer works and how open they are, modding has always been a big part of PC games, and it can really enhance the experience and extend the lifespan of a game.

The most interesting indie titles always tend to come out of nowhere for me. That's part of the fun for me.

I'm worried about the future of computer operating systems, as they all seem to be sliding towards a more controlled experience, taking away much of what makes PC games so much fun.

Infinite power just isn't very interesting, no matter what game you're playing. It's much more fun when you have a limited tool set to use against the odds.

I definitely think 'Minecraft' is a freak thing. There's no way you could replicate it intentionally.

If I ever accidentally make something that seems to gain traction, I'll probably abandon it immediately.

If I had intended for 'Minecraft' to end up on consoles, I wouldn't have developed the game in Java. The decision to port the game to consoles came from a combination of player requests, a desire to play around with the brand on different platforms, and some interesting business deals.

I've been struggling with why are people so mean online. Not everyone, but some people. You see the mean comments; like, they seem like they're written in a bigger font size, almost.

Partying is not a sane way to spend money, but it's fun. When we were young, we did not have a lot of money at all, so I thought, 'If I ever get rich, I'm not going to become one of those boring rich people who doesn't spend money.'

Gaming goes in trends, and for a bit of a too-long stretch, it focused on huge productions.

If you build a car, you can only sell it once. If you paint a fence, you only get paid for it once. If you create a piece of software that's essentially free to reproduce, you can keep getting paid over and over perpetually.

Turns out, what I love doing is making games. Not hyping games or trying to sell a lot of copies. I just want to experiment and develop and think and tinker and tweak.

Specifically, my favorite tool in Java is hot code swapping in debug mode, meaning I can edit the code while the game is running and immediately see the results in the running game. This is super great for rapid tweaking.

I'm not an entrepreneur. I'm not a CEO. I'm a nerdy computer programmer who likes to have opinions on Twitter.

I already have it, but a good keyboard is invaluable when you spend a lot of time typing. My favorite one is the ancient IBM Model M I have at home.

The speed at which modern CPUs perform computations still blows my mind daily.

'Minecraft' is to a large degree about having unique experiences that nobody else has had. The levels are randomly generated, and you can build anything you want to build yourself.

Any email that contains the words 'important' or 'urgent' never are, and annoy me to the point of not replying out of principle.

Facebook is not a company of grass-roots tech enthusiasts. Facebook is not a game tech company. Facebook has a history of caring about building user numbers, and nothing but building user numbers.

For 'Minecraft,' it actually started with an isometric strategy game.

I guess people feel like they kind of know me. The game developer me, or the Twitter persona, that's Notch. It's a censored version. The real me is Markus.

Steam is not really leading the PC in any creative way, but it certainly has proved that the PC is a viable commercial platform by having a product that is amazingly easy to use for the end user, to the point where it's easier to buy a game on Steam than it is to pirate it.