Minecraft maker Notch clarifies "Mojang to disband in 10 years" reports
"From the day we don't make a profit, we'll survive another 10 years."
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Minecraft maker Markus "Notch" Persson talked about how he has a 10-year plan for his staff if he doesn't come up with an idea for a successor to the all-conquering Minecraft.
Here's the quote: "Hopefully, we are going to keep making money at Mojang, but if we don't, that's fine. We just have 10 fun years, and then, the last year, we'd say to our employees, 'If we don't make any money this year, Mojang is going to be dead. So you might want to look for new jobs.'"
Some took this to indicate Mojang may only have 10 years left, but in a series of Tweets, Notch explained this wasn't the case.
What is in fact the case is that Mojang is rolling in so much cash that it has enough money in the bank to survive another decade without making another penny.
"I meant we're saving money so that from the day we don't make a profit, we'll survive another 10 years," Notch clarified.
"And I don't see how we'd stop making money any time soon at the rate things are going...
"So basically, we've got money saved to have 10 more years to come up with a new project, without making a single cent in that time."
Minecraft and Notch's success is mind-boggling. Mojang raked in over 2 billion Swedish kronor (£197m) in 2013, according to financial records.
Of that, 816m kronor was profit (£77.3m) and almost the same amount (£77.8m) went directly to a separate company owned by Minecraft creator Marcus "Notch" Persson in licensing fees for the game.
The original version of Minecraft has sold over 15m copies. The franchise has shifted Mojang still employs just 36 people - Minecraft console work is undertaken externally, by Scottish-based 4J Studios.
The company is also working on its tactical CCG Scrolls and the continuing roll-out of its premium multiplayer servers offer Minecraft Realms.
"Usually with games, you would start to expect a decline after the first year since launch," Mojang exec Carl Manneh said in March 2014. "That's never really happened for us.
"Financially speaking, we have no pressure whatsoever to rush into any new projects. Besides, we have no outside owners that require us to reach any particular goals."