The man who sold Minecraft to Microsoft for $2.5 billion reveals the empty side of success

It's the dream of many a startup founder: Make something people love and wind up wildly rich, selling the company for billions.

[Ashlen]

Disagree with this as much as you want.

But I feel like he should feel bad.

He pretty much created the inde movement he was already making enough money to live like a king, doing something that made millions of people happy but he sold it to the most corporate people on the planet from the most capitalist nation on the planet.

It was a huge disappointment, he could have had everything he wanted and stayed true to himself and the people who enjoyed Minecraft.

Anyone who says money can't buy happiness is an idiot but when you have enough for ten lifetimes getting enough for twenty doesn't matter.

I don't wish for anyone to be unhappy but if he is unhappy he's got no one to blame but himself.

[nX]

He seems to be a little attention whore, I bet you he's not as sad as his Twitter suggests. I'd be the happiest man alive if I wouldn't have to worry about money.

[Genuine-User]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b...

[alti]

what a fundamental misinterpretation of an actual emotion. Incredible. And what's worse is people overwhelmingly agree with you. I'll keep my vote to myself, because beyond this comment it shouldn't be worth acknowledging.

[vickers500]

Always curious when people say things like this what exactly they think this entails, always hear people saying, I'd switch with so and so (the so and so usually claiming to be an unhappy person), so and so is just ungrateful.

Do people imagine their current life + the money? Or do they truly mean they'd switch lives with that person if given the chance? Would you switch places with an insanely rich person if that meant you would also inheret all their psychological/emotional defects? Would you still switch with them if it was a guarantee that you eould be unhappy as they feel? I kind of feel like overpriveleged people get a bad rap, at least from some people. I know what you're thinking, boo-hoo right, they have money. Truth is though, money doesn't actually buy true happiness. It can buy temporary happiness in the form of material possesions, but that alone wouldn't make you truly happy, would it? If right now, hypothetically you as a poor person had a beautiful, loving girlfriend, or maybe a very caring family, would you switch lives with a millionaire who had none of those things? Money can get you a girlfriend and some mooch friends sure, but would those people even really be worth it? They'd only be with you for your money.

I'm not saying rich people have it worse than anyone, this is simply a question that's been on my mind because I always hear those with less use this complaint think that the other side must live blissful, problem free lives, without considering the fact that they're just humans, like you and me, and that financial privelege doesn't mean that they don't have every right to feel just as crappy as we do. I'll admit I'm guilty of this myself, I've said and thought the same thing of wealthy people before.I don't live in a wealthy family, we're maybe lower middle class.

Obviously there are certain cases where the answer to that question would be absofreakinglutely, like those whose lives are highly endangered every day just by living where they live or having as little as they have, but I'm not talking about those types of cases.

[Dee_91]

Yea, if he really felt that bad, most of that money would be with some charity by now, he could live a normal life if he wanted to

"The problem with getting everything is you run out of reasons to keep trying,"

Actually enjoying those things is far more enjoyable than working for those things.

"Hanging out in ibiza with a bunch of friends and partying with famous people, able to do whatever I want, and I've never felt more isolated."

Doesn't sound like a money issue to me, you could be hanging out in a trailer park and feel the same way.

"In sweden, I will sit around and wait for my friends with jobs and families to have time to do shit,"

If I had 2.5b my family and friends would not be working. They would have their own businesses by now or something, they sure as hell wouldn't be clocking in and answering to people on a 9 to 5.

"I would Musk and try to save the world, but that just exposes me to the same type of assholes that made me sell minecraft again."

At least he acknowledged he was an asshole. Somebody should show him all the people living paycheck to paycheck and barely getting by so he can feel even worse about complaining about having a lot of money..

He would feel the same way if there was no currency at all.

[BeefCurtains]

This guys is complaining to a poverty stricken, starving world about having too much money (statistically, it is sad how much of the world is starving). There's a lot of good he can do if he doesn't want the money for himself.

It just sounds like he needs a job or a hobby to me.

I loved his little jab about the "a-holes" that "made" him sell minecraft. What a clueless D-bag.

[XBLSkull]

What a whiny butthole, "boo-hoo I have unlimited money." Go **** yourself, I'll trade you bank accounts if it'll make you feel better.

[TWB]

@Dee_91

Hold on... did you just make a fking case against the whole princible of gaming?

"Actually enjoying those things is far more enjoyable than working for those things"

Maybe my example is wrong but working for things is NOT enjoyable when the end results pay you satisfyingly? So all the unlockables, trophies/achievements and even chalenging boss fights should really be given to you because the reward itself is the thing that makes you feel good, not the strugle to get there? Not the sensation of victory but only the sensation of "gimme"?

This is a gaming site and I hope my example hits the string with most people here, but really?

"but its real life and the stuff you can buy with the money!"

So tell me now that you have a decent job (asuming you do to sustain a decent gaming) and can buy even as many as 20-30 games a year, do you enjoy/apprechiate every single of those 20-30 games as much as that ONE game you earned by doing your homework/chores when you were a kid? Or when you worked for small pocket money for one year for that new console?

I know that there has been a study that said that money = happiness only to a certain point, which is making around 100k a year but being super rich and never having to work for a thing ever again cant be a dream of any sane gamer. With 100k/year salary you can afford to take a week off if you want to go on a playing binge for a new (super expensive collectors edition) game if you so please, you dont need 2 billions.

Im not here to argue so Im not going to engage in a comment war. Just dropped a few important questions...

[ChrisW]

In a couple years he'll be bankrupt and living in a shoddy apartment.

[BoneApart]

Honestly man, you hit the nail on the head with being an attention whore.

This has nothing to do with having no empathy for the guy either. If he's sad and lonely and feels isolated, then he should put down his twitter and go be a volunteer fireman in his spare time.
Go help the homeless at a shelter.
Go think of new ideas for another video game.

Go build something in your life.

It's naive to overgeneralize the situation by saying "money can't buy you happiness".
He's a filthy rich, grown man. He can pave any path for himself that he'd like to at this point.

But instead, he takes to twitter about all of it.

[elweon]

He traded money, fake girls and famous people for what is real in life.

Smart as he is, he'll see it soon enough.

[dcbronco]

People are naive about what it means to suddenly have that much money. It does change things. You would think for the better but more often than not its for the worse. The people around you change. There is an expectation that you will now finance every harebrain scheme they can come up with. Even if you retired every person you knew before the money and made them rich many would feel you didn't give them enough. You could give them each five million and they would expect more. Simply because you have more. And many will stop seeing you as their friend and start looking at you as a continuous opportunity. Family will too. And family will come out of the woodwork. As well as strangers. You can't imagine the number of hands that come out for a upper middle class family so his harassment must be off the charts. Your phone would ring nonstop from people asking for donations. That's for a normal person.

He sounds materialistic anyway so that makes the problem worse. Even if I came into that type of money I wouldn't waste it on 70 million dollar homes. No house is worth that. Damn you Oprah. What he needs is a job. He is obviously a one hit wonder because if he had more he would be working on it. Financing is no longer a issue. I would have ten other projects going and wouldn't have time to wait on friends because I would already be too busy. I'd vacation a total month out of the year and huge parties would be extremely rare since I prefer a small group anyway. Who the hell needs an entourage anyway. Much of life is easily enjoyable by yourself. I've never understood why people need someone to go with them to a movie or dinner. If it's what you want to do then just do it.

Lastly I'm not a fan of any of the religious books but they are right on certain issues. One of the big ones is love of money being the root of all evil. It changes people.

[Army_of_Darkness]

Go cry a f#*king River... Gezz..
Donate to a charity, help your friends and family,develop a new studio and ip, drink, socialize and party hard and stop being a rich, selfish, stingy little cry baby...
If he lived in the shoes of the less fortunate, he wouldn't be seeking this type of attention.
Everyone has some type of physiological and emotional issues, but the thing here is that it wouldn't be as bad if I had plenty of money to go with it rather than nothing.

[antz1104]

Anyone else put this guy's story to NIN "Hurt"?

Lol sorry, with that many zeroes at the end of his bank account the f$cks I might have given are all out.

[christian hour]

Everyone here is pretty damn ignorant. I'm poor as shit but even I know the guy is in misery, money aint gonna do shit, and who say's he hasn't already donated a shit load to charity?

The guy is a socially anxious, depressed introvert. No amount of money will ever change that for him. And I'm sure sometimes he thought it would. I know sometimes I think if I had more money than sense, maybe I wouldn't be depressed anymore, maybe I wouldn't be a socially awkward dumb ass and maybe I wouldn't be so introverted (although I pride myself on introvertion). Then I remember, oh wait, this is life, money aint gonna fix SHIT. Just cause more shit!

Bring on the disagrees.

[Death]

Donate the money to charity where it will do some good. Then go get a job and struggle like the rest of us. Problem solved.

[EjWarrior]

money don't make you happy,just your life become easier!!

[Dee_91]

@TWB
wth are you even talking about? Your example is wrong and completely irrelevant. If you think unlocking stuff in a video game is the same as clocking in and out of a job then you must not actually have a job.

All of your questions are stupid. People work for money to buy things, they don't work to enjoy those things more.

[denawayne]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

[UltraNova]

1. Raise a homeless shelter and fund it.
2. Create an new studio and try making the next big thing. That will keep you busy and fill your empty and meaningless life.
3. StFU. Stop crying like a mamas boy like those sad sobs on TV, man up dude.

[scark92]

I agree, he felt as if he would be happy with the decisions he made but got lost somewhere afterwords, his fault, nobody elses.

[shallowpoint]

Nicely said!

[camel_toad]

It's true he has no one to blame but himself but in all fairness I doubt anyone in his shoes could have turned down that much money.

[joab777]

Yeah. I'm not crying for him at all. But not b/c he sold it. I would have too. 2.5 billion. Are you kidding me? I can only begin to imagine the things I could do with that much money. First, I would NEVER spend 75 million on a mansion. I would create a company, put ppl to work. Dive into whatever I am passionate about, work on the next Minecraft. We all know that creating something like Minecraft is a 1/billion chance. Up the challenge, b/c it's 100 harder to do it twice.

Then I'd dedicate at least half my time with my own charity, helping vets, homeless ppl, homeless vets hooked on drugs etc. How many ppl are afforded the opportunity to spend their lives and fortunes helping others? Very few. So get your lazy ass off the couch, stop whining about some girl, forget about the Minecraft deal and go do something with your life.

Let Jay-z have the mansion. Lord knows he will will never spend any time or money on anyone.

[Mrveryodd]

Totally agree , Bill Gates comes to mind , that dude has given away more than 2.5 billion.

[HighResHero]

I agree with a lot of what you're saying.
I don't hear Zuckerberg, Gates, etc. complaining. They seem to be too busy realizing other aspirations. There are plenty of things to work towards no matter how much money you have.
This guy probably wouldn't be happy either way and may be using his money as an excuse to avoid doing the hard work necessary to break free of whatever is causing his depression.

[Master of Unlocking]

Who's Jay-Z? Is he really that selfish?

What you said before that is, at best, wishful thinking I'm afraid to say. Everybody always say things like that BEFORE they get rich, but once they are, all the firm promises to help the poor & the starving and make huge donations to charities and create companies to give people jobs and whatnot tend to fade away pretty quickly, and the money is rather invested to buy luxury houses and cars and expensive paintings and in the stock exchange to try and become even richer. I'm sorry, this is the simple truth. Truth be told, we live in a largely selfish world, and given that the rich have never been so rich in spite of the fact that we live in an era when there has never been so many poor people, if the rich actually did what they often say they will do if/when they become rich, there simply wouldn't be as many poor people in this world as there are right now.

[BeefCurtains]

Maybe Money can't buy happiness, but it can rent it for a while. LOL

[zidane1341]

"most corporate people on the planet from the most capitalist nation on the planet. "

Hahahahaha what are you, 12? What a f'ing joke. Grow up and realize there are bigger things in the world then a petty video game competition, you child.

[Azzanation]

The problem with your comment Ashlen is your basing games off brands. Minecraft is still as awesome as it ever was and if anything MS is allowing the game to grow even bigger. Just because I am not Japanese doesn't mean I have to hate there stuff. What this guy did is his opinion which I think if his upset then he should donate to charity. At the end of the day its better to be high up then low down.

[christian hour]

"nobody to blame but himself"

To everyone who's said that, at what point did he blame anyone else? He's just giving some honest insight in to some mistakes he's made and how it hasn't magically cured any of his pre-existing mental disabilities.

It's a cautionary tale, one very few people will not disclose. A lot of rags to riches folks will maintain an image of happiness, leading others into a world of unhappiness thinking they want that too. Kudos to Notch for being honest about it.

Of course this is the internet of the new millenium so I better get in line and start hating, right? Empathy is for the birds I guess.

[Articuno76]

Only a hive as devoid of empathy and understanding of the human condition as the internet would disagree. And what's disappointing is that people are tripping over themselves to express the opposite of your sentiment.

Their comments reveal more about themselves and their pettiness than saying anything about Notch.

It shouldn't need to be stated that money doesn't buy happiness. I think too many people are confusing comfortable living with happiness... and that to me suggests they have no idea what happiness is at all.

[OhMyGandhi]

funny how so many billionaires express their disdain of their personal life on social media feeds rather then actually deal their problems.

[kenshiro100]

I'd like the money he has now to pay off everything I owe and start a business.

[Pogmathoin]

It would be nice to be in his shoes to try feel what he is feeling.... Also, tweeting to people who will never know themselves what it is like to be rich like him...... It sounds like an Adam Sandler movie ffs..... Maybe he does have genuine anguish....... But he is going about it the wrong way, complaining to people who have to do the everyday thing in life, hoping have a little extra to be able to enjoy some other things in life......

[JsonHenry]

I'd be too busy doing what I wanted if I had 2.5 billion in the bank to bother complaining about anything.

[PurpHerbison]

You must of been one of those guys on /v/ back in the day complaining about him taking vacations instead of updating the game.

[Dirtnapstor]

So what's your real rant about? The fact that he has more money than is necessary or what? Who's business is it other than his own, concerning his wealth?
I don't think he's "woe is me" complaining. He made some valid statements about instant wealth. The fact he acknowledges his predicament as an issue is a good thing in that he needs to change something.

Anyone in these forums would gladly take a chance with "sudden wealth", you know it.

[Lord_Sloth]

Nothing is stopping this man and his huge bank account from jumping back into the game.

[-Foxtrot]

This is the best line

"In sweden, I will sit around and wait for my friends with jobs and families to have time to do shit,"

GIVE THEM SOME MONEY THEN

Seriously I'm a selfish arsehole but if I had that much money I'd give all the people I hung out with some money, at least 5-10 million each.

Hell I'd go to work and give most of my co-workers money aswell just as a major "F-U" to Asda...what they going to do when all there staff leaves.

I'd literally give them a reason to party with me AND feel so grateful they'd not want to p*** me off.

[Lord_Sloth]

I think if I had 2.5 billion dollars I'd share it with my closest friends as well. I damn sure wouldn't just sit in my house and be bored all day.

[OhMyGandhi]

the biggest problem is that Notch bought the most expensive house in LA. He outbid Beyonce and Jay-Z, and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. It's an absolutely massive house. For one person.

People are annoyed with him because even on Twitter, friends and and strangers alike are trying to be empathetic and he is shying away from the assistance.

He needs to donate to charity. He needs actual good friends, and jump back into game development, with the mentality of a first timer. I'm surprised Microsoft didn't hire him directly to work on further projects. But if he as impassioned as he is with game development, He needs to jump right back in.

People shouldn't even think about putting Notch with a person like Phil Fish, who truly is whiny crybaby who neglects and disrespects his most loyal fans and wonders why everyone is against him. Notch seems like any other person, with that good ol' Billionaire Blues.

[Losso-Oso]

I agree with you to a certain degree. I agree that he could have had the success along with an absurd amount of money and remained true to him self and his values without selling Minecraft.

I don't see the need to bring Capitalism into it? What does an economic ideology have to do with anything right now? Capitalism sucks as a system, it's horrible, but it is still miles better than any other system and history has proven that.

Money can't buy happines, but that's because happines comes included (horrible joke, I know).

But again you are right, he is unhappy and he's got no one to blame but himself. Then again what were his choices?

Keep Minecraft, makes boat loads of money but be known for that and only that? Or wipe the slate clean, still make a metric crap ton of money, and maybe, just maybe, stretch your creative muscles, and be able to get out from under the shadow of your first success.

Personally, I would have just stayed with Minecraft, but that's just me. I can understand feeling trapped, feeling like all you'll ever be is a one trick pony because of how successful your first "trick" was and therefore feeling unfilled professionally.

[BLAKHOODe]

I've always believed that money can't buy happiness, but it helps.

[Rimgal]

"Hanging out in ibiza with a bunch of friends and partying with famous people, able to do whatever I want, and I've never felt more isolated."

Yeah, sounds like Notch life is a living hell. /s

[bicfitness]

I can't pity someone who has everything in the world. If he's depressed, it's not as if he couldn't afford/ arrange for counselling with the best shrink of our generation (whoever that might be).

[Rimgal]

Completely agree.

I can't pity someone who uses twitter for counseling. If he has problems like you say, the best for him is to seek a shrink.

"Found a great girl, but she's afraid of me and my life style and went with a normal person instead."

http://i714.photobucket.com...

[Activemessiah]

You know what they say: Some people are so poor, all they have is money.

[camel_toad]

You see this kind of thing happen to a lot of people who instantly become super wealthy. Ive seen a lot of similar stories about people who won the lottery.

[christian hour]

hahaha, yes, a shrink is gonna fix his depression XD Maybe some meds too? Oh yeah. Totally gonna fix that shit right up! I went through that "system" from 8 years old until I was 24, and it left me more fucked up as a result. The last 4 years of not doing meds/psych, I've never felt better (or crazier :D )

"uses twitter for counseling" Is he though? It seems like he's just trying to share some insight and crush some false beliefs about success and hopefully have some nice ol' human interaction along the way, ya no, the non "lets all jump on the hate wagon cos we're so funny" kind.

[scark92]

Notch be like
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b...

[WPX]

yeah the empty side, the 00,000,000.
I'd love to see my bank account with a few of those zeroes at the right of my current balance now.

[kungfuian]

I have to say I think some of these responses are sickening. The lack of empathy expressed here and on other sites is kinda sad. I don't care how rich he is now the truth is he's a real human being who has undergone a loss (loss of direction, loss of connectedness).

Whether it's of his own making is beside the point. Having your life drastically change can make anyone lose themselves a bit. From what I've seen of him he's a good human being. Hope for him he finds himself again and plugs into something of value.

From the outside it seems kind of obvious that a creative like him needs to stay creative to be happy. I personally would love to see him help create/fund amazing large scale games and/or help others create those games. Or maybe poor some of that cash into the indi community and help foster the next generation of Minecrafts.

Whatever he chooses best of luck to him.

[Ashlen]

I would have a lot more sympathy for him if he gave me the impression he wasn't totally selfish.

If he was like I went to Africa and used my money to stop the spread of AIDS or I went to Asia to help the fight against human trafficking or something charitable. And it didn't make me happy that would be something.

But no he's crying because he has everything a person could ever possibly want and it doesn't make him happy.

That and the fact he's a ginormous sellout.

But what sympathy I can express is that depression is a terrible thing and he should seek help, but that's about all the sympathy I have for him.

[Aloy-Boyfriend]

Being rich doesn't keep you from still acting like a normal person, having interactions with friends, and still trying to do things.

Just have all your bills auto payed and go outside, meet people, hang out, get laid, and so on

[plmkoh]

"Just have all your bills auto payed and go outside, meet people, hang out, get laid, and so on"

Did you read the Tweets? That's exactly what he was doing.

You should have said instead he should use his money being productive.

[Klonoa-dreamtraveler]

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

No i'm kidding but i could never sell something i created in that view i feel bad for him to lose something you built and had passion in and believed in be gone from your life and have this gap of emptiness and feel something is missing in your life. i mean he was already doing something he loved and sold it off and feels he has no direction now in life to do something he felt passion in doing that maybe gave him a meaning or fulfillment.

[Hasswell-NeverCold]

Go roll in the dough.

[Satyre28]

Anyone who seriously thinks having that much money wont make you happy make me laugh. Think about it, having the amount of money that you can buy whatever you want, do whatever you want, never need to worry about work, homes, vehicles, family financial status, and the most luxurious vacations without worrying about having to wake up to go to a job, or worry about a weekly pay check. If this doesn't keep you happy idk what to tell you.

[vickers500]

I mean if material possesions and shallow/fake relationships with people who are only with you because of your money makes you happy, then more power to you, but from what I gather, most people would rather have a caring family and a caring partner, things than can be way harder to obtain whenever everyone knows your rich and is just trying to get money out of you. And ever take a vacation by yourself? It's nowhere near as enjoyable as it is with people, like most things in life.

[Antifan]

You should really watch 'Coming To America' if you haven't. Money and fame isn't everything that requires a happy life. Sometimes, or most of the time, it's just as miserable as being poor.

[christian hour]

Satyre28, I think you have a fairly manufactured view on life. You live on a pebble floating in an endless ocean, you couldn't be any more tiny or insignificant, and success wealth fame don't mean shit in the grand scheme of things. There is one thing on this planet that matters, one thing that really matters and can make your brief existence have lasting impact long after you've perished.

I hope you figure out what it is before it's too late.

[mixelon]

The thing is, he's NOT an ambitious guy. It seems like he bought into big showy stuff because he felt he should want to, and the idea is that it's whats supposed to make you happy.

Which is shit. Rich people aren't happy too, and the ones who *are* ambitious often want more, more, more.

It's like he has buyers remorse on huge facets of his entire life, and it's pretty sad.

[81BX]

Take a trip bro.... and go do some volunteer work there. You probably feel like crap because deep down you feel like you made the wrong choice. Throwing big ass parties for a few real friends and a bunch of fake ones isnt healthy.

[N0TaB0T]

Oh, look, all this money, and I feel empty inside?

...Sounds like a case of the munchies.

[Vegamyster]

"In sweden, I will sit around and wait for my friends with jobs and families to have time to do shit, watching my reflection in the monitor."

??

He's a billionaire, he could support all his family/friends or whomever he wants so they didn't have to work and spend more time with them. I understand to a degree what he means but really he was doing very well before with the difference now being he doesn't have a job which is something he can change. There's been people who won the lottery, kept their jobs and donate their paycheck to charities.

[Antifan]

I don't get it. Why don't he start a new company? With all that money, he can make the quality games he wants, and the people want.

[HighResHero]

Maybe he will after he stops making excuses and gets his $#@! together.

[benji101]

He has no ideas. He should just be a publisher and go looking for small games to work with but he is too arrogant.

[ChickeyCantor]

Not just that he can do whatever he wants. If he is that dead inside he should really take a deeper look into that reflection of his.

[LA_Zeo]

forget about beginning isolated and that hog crap just knowing I don't have to struggle financially for as long as I'm breathing air is enough for me myself to be happy. Shout, I'd just sit back and do what I love till I die play video games and drive fast ass cars is enough for me.

[ape007]

people, life is more than just money, yeah we all love cash so much and many people are in desperate need and are struggling but the STRICT materialistic outlook on life is absolutely shallow

[ChickeyCantor]

Money opens a bazillion doors. He has the money to do whatever he wants and still claims to be dead inside?

I rather be shallow and have 2.5 billion bucks AND live my life doing whatever I never did before. Rather than cry about seeing my reflection in the mirror cause "I haz all this monnies".

He could get a private jet, fly to whatever country he wants. Fly back and see his friends and family in the same day.

[whothedog]

A lot of shrinks on n4g, who knew.

[TheColbertinator]

N4G is full of business analysts,economical advisers,civil rights lawyers, media journalists, psychologists and PR representatives for multi-billion dollar companies like Microsoft and Sony

[bloodybutcher]

haha, well said xD

[christian hour]

Is it really? I thought it was full of unempathetic assholes like the rest of the internet.

"business analysts,economical advisers,civil rights lawyers, media journalists, psychologists and PR representatives for multi-billion dollar companies like Microsoft and Sony"

Apparently you can't be one of these AND a gamer. Thanks for informing us, the more you know eh?

[Scatpants]

If you're that rich and unhappy then you're doing it wrong.

[Rimeskeem]

I feel like getting 2.5 billion dollars in a day isn't exactly healthy for your mind. I know that if that happened to me I wouldn't be able think about that much money.

[Scatpants]

I'd be too busy living my wildest dreams to think about that much money.

[StormSailor]

"I searched for form and land, for years and years I roamed

I gazed a gazely stare, we walked a million hills

I must have died alone, a long long time ago" (The Man Who Sold The World)

[bloodybutcher]

DB or Nirvana for you?

[StormSailor]

David Bowie always...

[kingPoS]

I don't necessarily feel bad for the guy. He basically sold his dream. What ever remorse or regret he feels now is his own fault. I do however get that family & friends will away be one thought away from asking for some pocket change.

The curse of the lottery. The bigger the win, the bigger the vultures. Unless of you're born into it or self-made, you'll need a really thick skin, and quite possibly a wholly different perspective.

Or...

Self regret, a powerful emotion, it can be nurtured with obscene amounts of money and no set goal in life.

Gateway MT6706 2008

[Sarobi]

The sad empty side of being someone who can do whatever he wants for the rest of his life.

[Melankolis]

He's just not used to this. Imagine if you're a super rich guy then suddenly went bankrupt buuuuut.......you've got new friends(?).....will you be happy?

hint : real life isn't like a shonen manga

[TheSaint]

Everyone feel sorry for the billionaire.....

Seriously, if I had even 1% of that I'd be the happiest man alive.

[baodeus]

Happiness happens only when you find something, but since nothing is permanent, happiness is short lived. So don't seek for happiness because all you find at the end are sadness and sorrow.

Happiness is something only you can give to yourself, not from anyone or anything else. It is all in your head so think wisely.

Seek for acceptance, not from others, but within yourself and you'll see that all of which you have search for was there along within you. By letting it (ego) go, you shall find what you seek.

[RustyShackleford]

Fuck this guy. If I had his money and felt "so bad" about it, I would donate it to worthy causes instead of partying in Ibiza and feeling bad about it. I've always said if I won the lottery my friends wouldn't have to worry about money anymore, he waits until they are done with their shifts and feels like a loser while waiting. That's not the typical loser stigma guy, that's guilt and the realization you're a greedy sellout dick at heart. So I say again, fuck this guy. Another billionaire crying for attention. And of course your employees hate you now, they either got let go or now answer to M$, you're surprised?

[Ace Killa 08]

last I check some donations ask for 5 bucks over the phone. How much you donated in the last month?

[RustyShackleford]

$50 to 5 different organizations on my far less than 2 billion dollar net worth. What did you do other than troll on n4g?

[Mrveryodd]

He needs a mighty good shrink .

[user9950279]

Lol. Oh, woe is my, I never habe to work another day in my life.

I'd race sports cars.

[Azurite]

I love isolation and becoming wealthy on top of that would be... heaven.

If he wants to share his suffering I'm there for him.

[windblowsagain]

Never understood the thing that people love about the game.

Just don't like it appealing at all.

And if he is sad. Then he needs to go do something that makes him happy.

Maybe help out people less well off.

[OB1Biker]

Kids are addicted to this game.
OT pathetic tweets

[0to100]

people with jobs feel way more crap than him, most people have dull empty time consuming jobs & feel like missing out most of life, he's being a bitch or just trying to not look like a sell out to get some public love lol.

He could always make his own business again and work his way up if he wanted too. He could even hit the gym everyday and burn all that fat, possibly destroy his candy wall he's got, must be giving him too much sugar rush, then meet his friends when they have finished their shifts, better yet he could just give them a mill each to his true friends.

hope he reads this and gives me 10 mill so i could show him how to live.

[Bobafret]

Well, there are children that literally eat dirt to feel full in various parts of the world, perhaps you would feel better by helping them?

[IamTylerDurden1]

He did the intelligent thing, Minecraft has been milked like crazy with little innovation. Imo it's very tired atm, I have never seen a game whored out to the capacity of Minecraft.

It's not that novel an idea anymore, go create something else. Look at The Tomorrow Children it takes the Minecraft idea and iterates on it beautifully with incredible visuals, amazing Soviet Union influences, awesome gameplay mechanics including jetpacks. If people overlook this game it will be sad.

You have your cash now make the game you've always wanted, self funded and self published.

[parentsbasement]

Just come out with a "Bling" skin for minecraft so at least I can see what your talking about oh great and powerful Notch...

[T2X]

Well, I have always felt that working hard and then becoming wealthy is far different than being born into it. I see what this guy is saying but hey, first world rich man troubles right? If I were to suddenly become mega wealthy, I would take care of a few people close to me and see that they always had a place to live and food to eat. Aside from having my nice toys, I've always wanted, and a decent house, not a mega mansion mind you. I would start helping out people who were not as fortunate and especially set up a foundation for homeless animals and trying to place them with families and then there would be the donations to help Childhood diseases and Cancer research etc...etc.. You get the gist. So basically what I'm saying is if this billionaire asshole is just sitting around sulking about how he's not deliriously happy every waking moment of his life than maybe he should consider doing some good with it while he can and then he can feel happier. Money doesn't bring you any happiness if you weren't relatively happy to begin with. Also, just because some people have lots of money, doesn't mean they are very intelligent in every aspect either. Oh well. Off to buy a scratch ticket I guess LOL!

[JamesBroski]

Nice article. It made me realize how immature and ignorant most of the community is here.

[jmc8888]

He's lost. He doesn't have his priorities straight.

He's trying to live 'the life' he's been told is 'the life', except.... it isn't. The shallow existence of nothing is not a life.

He has no purpose, so he parties non-stop, and it's destroying him.

Can he find his way? Maybe, maybe not. He needs to find something, hopefully productive or useful for society. Yes he can do whatever he finds personally interesting, or he could devote his life with the windfall he got to making the world better.

He's in a great position to do some very good things, he just needs the will and desire to attempt it. His life is now on him, because no one else is controlling it. He can do whatever he wants, and if he chooses just to follow the trap that is chasing the desires of the flesh, then he will destroy himself.

Basically he's only nourishing the animal part of himself, not the human part. The human part of the brain is rationale and creative, and that's what made him rich. That's what filled him with a purpose. It's what made him productive. That's what makes humans, humans, and what can make the human race flourish... if we adhere closer to it.

Notice he's not engaging that part of his brain anymore. Society has taught him that now that he's rich he needs to do the opposite. Just be concerned with matters of the flesh and the animal of desire.

It shows how screwed up our society has become. We strive for what doesn't matter and what we don't need, thus leaving us empty and lost when we achieve it. It doesn't have to be that way, but it is the Wall Street way. That's why our country has been destroyed. America was founded on and used to stand for rationality and creativity, but British Empire Wall Street infected and overtook us with their inherited sins of the Roman Empire. From American common sense and productivity to Roman debauchery. Worse yet, many people do great damage, in the attempt, to acquire this nothing lifestyle.

Something in notch can sense it, but he hasn't quite placed it, nor have many people in America or the world. But that's exactly what it is. Time to start acting like an American again... like a HUMAN BEING. We as a country and world of individuals should decide to as well.

[jahfen83]

Billionaire bored? Start a business.

[FlameWater]

rich people problems

[mochachino]

He moved to L.A., the city with the most empty and superficial people in the world. Maybe he should move back home or away from all the celebs and suits. Could be that he doesn't have that much in common with that lifestyle.

Also, he could do what Gates does and find meaning by giving back.

I don't feel sorry for him though, not with enough money to do anything. Lots of depressed people that can't pay for a therapist, who have to somehow suffer through work at a crappy job all day.

Money doesn't buy happiness, but having the same problems is better with money than without.

OR, it could just be all the drinking. Alcohol is a depresssant and I'm guessing he party's a lot. Detox for a bit.

[blakstarz]

Kinda feel for the guy...it seems that he is realizing that having family, friends and eventually one day, one of your own is more important that selling out and your soul.

I look at rich people on TV at times and you can tell they have an empty life and use money to fill some kind of void. Just like buying a big ass house........and no one to come home too.

Something to think about as you get older...

[parentsbasement]

If I had his money I would start a random world in minecraft , find an island on that world and build a cool minecraft house, then buy an actual island and have it recreated in real life , also , all the people that work for me would have to dress , act , and SOUND like villagers...

[Jag-T1000]

Not gonna feel sorry for a rich guy.

[Poroz]

In a lot of cases money just buys loneliness.

[battlegrog]

This is absolutely retarded. People make choices regardless how much money they have period.

You fools can spin this off as some evil MS thing all you want. The guy could have done whatever he wanted regardless if he sold it. He can continue to create new games or start a game studio up and work hard.

Look at Mark Zuckerberg as an example or anyone else in the world that has a lot of money that continue on with there lives.,

Its called choice and he has made his for the time being. He will at some point get back on a path of doing something for himself. People get stuck up in crap sometimes with money sure.

[woutervanjel]

"When we sold the company, the biggest effort went into making sure the employees got taken care of, and they all hate me now."

This man is a big pile of shit. He should've SHARED all his money with "the employees". He sounds and acts like an eight year old spoiled brat. He should donate all his money. I despise this guy.

[Jmanzare]

Boohoo give me your money then and stop being a bitch

[Max-Zorin]

Can you rich people not get anymore miserable?

[General Shrooms]

boo fucking hoo

[Takwin]

I tried Minecraft and didn't like it. Never read too much about Notch.

I now think of him as a first-rate complaining douchebag.

Zero respect. GTFO with your 1% whining.

[Tonykid]

So he's basically bored.

[abcde-12345]

A problem I hope I never have. All I need is enough to get by and I'm happy.

Although, if I did have that much cash, I could do some good in the world. Like building schools and hospitals in poorer countries.

[mushroomwig]

Seems like a lot of users here don't understand depression. It doesn't matter how much money you have or how well liked you are or even how famous you are. Look at Robin Williams, he was loved by everybody, he had fame and fortune but none of that was enough to stop him from committing suicide.

Money really doesn't buy you happiness.

[Bismarn]

This guy's a strange cat.

1. He puts Minecraft on Google Play, Steam, and the Apple App Store.

2. When Microsoft approaches him to also get it on their Windows 8 store he says go fuck yourself with your closed app store that is ruining the planet...

3. 47 minutes later sells the whole thing to Microsoft

4. Claims he's going to leave big game industry behind and pursue more Indie ideas.

5. Has no other ideas.

6. Regret.

[bmky]

This guy has no chill. Depressed coz u got money. He could open up orphanages, help the homeless, be a venture capitalist, go to church, make more games, go clubbin. wtf go to space. really though

[EinRobot]

What a DB.

[Roccetarius]

I was just thinking about game ideas yesterday, but obviously i would need money for a developer to help create it.

Notch's money would be welcome to make that happen, considering it would be one of a kind.

[silvacrest]

tons of money doesn't just mean you can buy material possessions that ultimately do little for you.

the money he has can open him up to literally anything, stop filling your time with holidays and mansions and pursue what you really want....thats what i would do anyway

[bligmerk]

Microsoft was crazy to pay $2.5 BILLION for Minecraft. It was the last of butthead Ballmer's weird decisions. The whole red ring debacle *only* cost $1 Billion and that was considered an enormous loss. It only represents how terrible Microsoft has been for video gaming in general. They have been gradually tearing apart everything fun about video games and tried to turn video gaming into some kind of suits version. Maybe they had a chance to make a come back to PC games several years ago, but that ship has sailed. Just look at all the 1st party studios they have destroyed, entire franchise lines destroyed. Yeah, they are clinging to a small handful of franchises and studios but the writing is on the wall. In 10 years, people will have forgotten Microsoft had anything to do with video gaming.

[AgentSmithPS4]

I think they payed that much for the 'formula' to get people addicted and for power. They'll study the game and humans to figure out how such an 'ugly' game holds their attention, how it makes them want to work hard for little reward (digging coal, etc), etc ;).

[AgentSmithPS4]

"In sweden, I will sit around and wait for my friends with jobs and families to have time to do shit, watching my reflection in the monitor."
You have enough money to buy them their freedom from jobs...

[Subaruwrx]

He should spend less time sitting around and spend more time engaging in activities that will improve his spiritual and physical well being. Partying with famous people ain't the ticket to a better life.

[Gwiz]

I don't really care about Minecraft,i'm not sure what the emptiness of success means.Not much more i can say on this matter.

[Subaruwrx]

Sounds like he's having a hard time finding a girlfriend. Maybe he should spend some of that free time he has going to the gym, losing some weight and getting his spiritual house in order. Money might buy you sex from gold diggers and sex workers but, it ain't going to make you physically or spiritually attractive or buy you love.

[ThePresentIsAgift]

The real irony in my eyes is that appears to be suffering from a lack of creative vision, I am not saying it is easy to be in that position, because lets be honest until we are there how would we truly know. I imagine the veritable army of yes men/women/cash grabbers/commerce nonsense to be a considerable pressure.

It would be nice though to see him do something noteworthy with some of the money outside of just indulging, if not for others then for his own sake. Start a charitable legacy perhaps.

[gamerz]

Anyone know why his former employees hate him now? I thought he made them all rich?

[Ulf]

I think he actually got most of the money. When I say most, I think that means like 95% or more. I could be mistaken though.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

I think most people would sell their soul for $2.5 Billion dollars, especially when it looks like you're going to be a one hit wonder.

[Artemidorus]

I would be happy and others around me. He needs to return to what got him going in the first place.

[Ulf]

Disagree with me all you like, but...

Minecraft seems better off under Microsoft control.

Yep, I said that. TBH, the creators did nothing but sit on their tails and sell Minecraft toys while they were in control. Now, at least, the game is moving forward again.

[rataranian]

"70 million dollar mansion" ...What a idiot.

[The_Truth_24_7]

He needs to STFU.

[StormSailor]

What this guy needs is fill his head with work, if I were him I'd found another development studio and work in a much more ambitious game project that Minecraft

[level 360]

I'd rather be a billionaire and have some feelings of emptiness which for sure you can easily fix by making some lifestyle changes than be struggling and be sad for months/years on end.

Think focus and prioritizing is the main lesson here., most definitely when you suddenly and instantly acquire a load of money you're first feeling is to be excitable about the things you want in life and want it really fast without thinking - like splurging on a whim, but everyday.

You just suddenly take a lot of things ( even the important ones ) for granted somehow when a lot of money is being tossed about.