Portrait of Markus Persson.

Markus Persson

Initiator of Minecraft

A Swedish programmer who began Minecraft as a small public experiment before it grew through players, Mojang and a much larger team.

Playable Seed
Finds a compact rule set that can generate many stories.
Public Iteration
Lets a community shape a work while it is still forming.
Procedural Ground
Uses simple systems to produce vast variable terrain.

Markus Persson

Initiator of Minecraft

Start hereMinecraftInitiated by Markus Persson; developed and expanded by Mojang teamsExplore official project
1979-2008

Programming games

Persson grew up in Sweden, programmed from childhood and worked at King and Jalbum.

2010-2011

Mojang becomes a team

Persson co-founded Mojang with Carl Manneh and Jakob Porser; Jens Bergensten became lead designer after the full release.

2014-present

Acquisition and distance

Microsoft acquired Mojang and Minecraft in 2014. Persson left; continuing Minecraft is the work of Mojang teams, not its original creator alone.

Major games and software projects

  • 2009 · Initiated by Markus Persson; developed and expanded by Mojang teams

    Minecraft

    Explore & play

  • 2006 · Co-created by Rolf Jansson and Markus Persson; continued by Code Club teams

    Wurm Online

    Explore & play

  • 2014 · Mojang team led by Jakob Porser; Persson was not sole creator

    Scrolls

    Explore & play

Company history