Everyone knows the name Notch. It’s basically synonymous with the blocky world we’ve all spent hundreds of hours in. But if you think one guy just sat down and birthed a multi-billion dollar empire over a weekend, you're only getting half the story. Honestly, the question of who made the game Minecraft is a bit like asking who built a skyscraper. Sure, there’s an architect, but there were a lot of people holding the hammers.
Minecraft didn’t start as a masterpiece. It started as a hobby project by a Swedish programmer named Markus Persson. Back in 2009, he was working for Jalbum and had previously spent time at King (the Candy Crush people). He wanted to make something different. He was obsessed with games like Dwarf Fortress, RollerCoaster Tycoon, and specifically a niche project called Infiniminer.
Persson, known online as "Notch," released the first version—then called Cave Game—on May 17, 2009. It was barebones. You could place blocks. You could break them. That was pretty much it. There were no creepers. No diamonds. No End Dragon. Just a guy tinkering with Java code in his spare time.
The Infiniminer "Inspiration" and the Early Days
You can't talk about who made the game Minecraft without talking about Zachary Barth. He’s the creator of Infiniminer, a competitive mining game that came out just months before Minecraft. Notch openly admitted that he saw Infiniminer and thought, "That's the game I want to build." He liked the blocky aesthetic but hated the direction the gameplay was going.
So, he pivoted.
Notch started TIGSource forums threads to get feedback from other indie devs. This is where the magic happened. The community essentially became a focus group. This wasn't a corporate boardroom decision. It was a guy in a fedora typing away on his keyboard, taking suggestions from random people on the internet.
By the time the Alpha version rolled out in 2010, the "who" behind the game started to expand. Notch couldn't handle the sheer scale of the success alone. He founded Mojang Specifications (later just Mojang) alongside Jakob Porser and Carl Manneh. This was the turning point. It went from a solo project to a legitimate business.
📖 Related: Why Titanfall 2 Pilot Helmets Are Still the Gold Standard for Sci-Fi Design
The Jens Bergensten Era
Here is where the narrative shifts. While Notch is the "creator," he hasn't actually worked on the game for over a decade. In late 2011, right as the game was officially "launching" out of Beta, Notch handed the reins of lead developer over to Jens Bergensten, better known to the community as "Jeb."
If Notch is the father of Minecraft, Jeb is the one who raised it.
Jeb brought a different energy. He was more systematic. He’s the reason we have Redstone circuits that actually work, complicated enchanting systems, and most of the biomes you see today. Under his leadership, the dev team grew to include names like Nathan "Dinnerbone" Adams and Erik Broes.
- Notch: The visionary who took the big risk and built the foundation.
- Jeb: The architect who turned a rough sketch into a sustainable, growing world.
- The Community: The modders and players who literally invented gameplay styles like Spleef and Survival Games, which Mojang eventually integrated.
The 2.5 Billion Dollar Handshake
By 2014, Notch was burnt out. The pressure of being the face of the biggest game in the world was clearly getting to him. He famously tweeted, "Anyone want to buy my share of Mojang so I can move on with my life?"
Microsoft did.
For $2.5 billion, the keys to the kingdom were handed over to Xbox Game Studios. This changed the answer to who made the game Minecraft once again. Now, it’s a global operation. We're talking about hundreds of developers at Mojang Studios in Stockholm, but also teams at 4J Studios (who handled console ports for years) and Microsoft’s internal teams.
👉 See also: Sex Fallout New Vegas: Why Obsidian’s Writing Still Outshines Modern RPGs
It's a weird legacy. Notch is largely absent from the game's current branding. If you look at the splash screens or the 10th-anniversary celebrations, his name is noticeably missing. This is due to his controversial personal comments in later years, which led Microsoft to distance the brand from its creator. It creates a strange situation where the person who started it all is no longer part of the conversation.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Creation
People think Minecraft was an overnight success. It wasn't. It was a slow burn. It succeeded because it was "ugly" in a way that felt approachable. In 2009, every other game was trying to look realistic. Notch went the other way. He chose a style that a single person could actually manage.
The "who" also includes people like C418 (Daniel Rosenfeld), the composer. Can you even imagine Minecraft without that melancholic, minimalist piano? He made the game feel like Minecraft. Without that atmosphere, it might have just stayed a weird technical demo.
How the Game is Made Today
Today, "who made Minecraft" is a list of credits that takes ten minutes to scroll through. It's a massive collaborative effort.
The development is split. You have the Java Edition, which is the original version, and Bedrock Edition, which runs on C++ and allows you to play with your friends on phones, consoles, and PCs. These are handled by different wings of the company. It’s no longer about one guy's vision; it’s about maintaining a platform that supports millions of users simultaneously.
They use a feedback site where players vote on features. That’s why we got the Caves & Cliffs update. That’s why we got the Sniffer. In a very real sense, the players are now part of the development team.
✨ Don't miss: Why the Disney Infinity Star Wars Starter Pack Still Matters for Collectors in 2026
Actionable Takeaways for Fans and Creators
If you’re looking at the history of Minecraft and wondering what it means for you, here are a few things to keep in mind:
Study the source. Notch didn't invent the block game; he refined it. Look at games you love and ask what they’re missing. Most great inventions are just better versions of something that already existed.
Build in public. Minecraft succeeded because people saw it grow. If you're creating something—whether it's a game, a YouTube channel, or a business—don't wait for it to be perfect. Release the "Alpha" version and let people help you fix it.
Know when to hand it off. Notch’s smartest move was giving the lead to Jeb. He knew his own limitations. If your project grows beyond your skills, find someone who can take it to the next level.
Diversify your understanding. When you play the game, pay attention to the credits. Look up the artists and the sound designers. Minecraft is a masterclass in how different disciplines (coding, music, community management) come together to create a cultural phenomenon.
The story of who made Minecraft is still being written. Every time a new update drops or a new developer joins the Stockholm office, the "who" changes. It’s a living project.
Check out the official Mojang "Ask Mojang" series on YouTube if you want to see the faces of the people actually writing the code right now. It's a far cry from a lone developer in a Swedish apartment, but that’s the nature of growth.