Notch to focus on 'small niche games,' no plans to repeat Minecraft success

Notch to focus on small, niche titles following Minecraft success on XBLA

Markus "Notch" Persson will focus on "small niche games" following the success of Minecraft: Xbox Edition on XBLA, the developer stated on his Twitter account.

Acknowledging the recent success of the console edition which already sold over 1 million copies, he said it is unlikely he will develop another title as popular as Minecraft.

"In all seriousness, though," said Persson, "the massive success of XBLA Minecraft has made me decide to focus on small niche games now."

"There's NO WAY for me to repeat that success, and I don't have to financially, so from now on out, I'll just take my time and do what I want."

He added that while retro space title 0x10c is currently in development, he does not see this as a small undertaking and will work to create games around a minimum number of players.

"I don't mean 'small' as in short projects, as 0x10c is a massive one. I mean ones with potentially few players."

0x10c is still early in development, however while no release date is currently scheduled it will be released early to fans as it develops, similarly to Minecraft. The title will take place in a parallel universe where the space race never ended, and features random encounters, space battles, and both single and multiplayer.

The title will also feature a connected economy in a similar way to Diablo 3, he states.

"The hyperverse in 0x10c is based on similar ideas. 0x10c will still allow offline, though."

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition was developed by 4J Studios for Xbox Live Arcade. Minecraft was first released in alpha form in May 2009, with a beta release hitting the following year. The official release became available November 2011.