.svg){kind=logo} Logo used since 2020 | |
 Headquarters on Söder Mälarstrand 43, Stockholm, in 2022 | |
| Mojang Studios(2020–present) | |
| Formerly | Mojang Specifications(2009–2010) |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 18 June 2009; 16 years ago (2009-06-18) |
| Founder | Markus Persson |
| Headquarters | , Sweden |
Number of locations | 5 (2021) |
Key people | Kayleen Walters(studio head) |
| Products | Minecraft series |
Number of employees | ≈600 (2021) |
| Parent | Xbox Game Studios(2014–present) |
Mojang AB,[1]trading asMojang Studios, is a Swedishvideo game developer based inStockholm. Afirst-party developer forXbox Game Studios, the studio is best known for developing thesandbox andsurvival gameMinecraft, thebest-selling video game of all time.
Mojang Studios was founded by the independent video game designerMarkus Persson in 2009 asMojang Specifications forMinecraft's development. The studio inherited its name fromanother video game venture Persson had left two years prior. Following the game's initial release, Persson, in conjunction with Jakob Porsér,incorporated the business in late 2010, and they hired Carl Manneh as the company'schief executive officer. Other early hires included Daniel Kaplan andJens Bergensten.Minecraft became highly successful, giving Mojang sustained growth. With a desire to move on from the game, Persson offered to sell his share in Mojang, and the company was acquired byMicrosoft in November 2014. Persson, Porsér, and Manneh subsequently left Mojang. In May 2020, Mojang was rebranded as Mojang Studios.
As of 2021, the company employs approximately 600 people and has additional locations inLondon,Shanghai,Tokyo, andRedmond, Washington, where Microsoft is headquartered.[2][3] Kayleen Walters is thestudio head. Apart fromMinecraft, Mojang Studios has developedCaller's Bane,Crown and Council, and further games in theMinecraft franchise:Minecraft Dungeons,Minecraft Legends, and the cancelledMinecraft Earth. It also released smaller games as part ofgame jams organised byHumble Bundle and published the externally developedCobalt andCobalt WASD.
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Mojang Studios was founded byMarkus Persson, a Swedish independentvideo game designer andprogrammer, in 2009.[4][5] He had gained interest in video games at an early age, playingThe Bard's Tale and severalpirated games on his father'sCommodore 128 home computer, and learned to programme at age eight with help from his sister. Because he was a "loner" in school, he spent most of his spare time with games and programming at home.[6] Following his graduation and a few years of working as aweb developer, Persson createdWurm Online, amassively multiplayer online role-playing game, with his colleague Rolf Jansson in 2003. They used the name "Mojang Specifications" during the development and, as the game started turning a profit,incorporated the companyMojang Specifications AB (anaktiebolag) in 2007.[6][7] The name is derived from the Swedish wordmojäng (Swedish pronunciation:[mʊˈjɛŋː];lit. 'gadget').[8][9] Persson left the project in the same year and wished to reuse the name, so Jansson renamed the company Onetoofree AB and later Code Club AB.[7][10] Meanwhile, Persson had joinedMidas, later known as King.com, where he developed 25–30 games. He departed the company when he was barred from creating games in his free time.[6]
In May 2009, Persson began working on aclone ofInfiniminer, a game developed byZachtronics and released earlier that year. Persson reused assets and parts of theengine code from an earlier personal project and released the firstalpha version of the game, now titledMinecraft, on 17 May 2009, followed by the first commercial version on 13 June.[11][12] He reused the name "Mojang Specifications" for this release, registering asole proprietorship with this name on 18 June.[11][13] In less than a month,Minecraft had generated enough revenue for Persson to take time off his day job, which he was able to quit entirely by May 2010.[11] As all sales were processed through the game's website, he did not have to split income with third parties.[14] The payment services providerPayPal temporarily disabled his account when it suspected fraud.[6]
In September 2010, Persson travelled toBellevue, Washington, to the offices of video game companyValve, where he took part in a programming exercise and met withGabe Newell, before being offered a job at the company.[15] He turned down the offer and instead contacted Jakob Porsér, a former colleague from King.com, to ask for aid in establishing a business out of Mojang Specifications.[5][6] Porsér quickly quit his job, and the pair incorporated Mojang AB on 17 September.[11][16] While Persson continued working onMinecraft, Porsér would developScrolls, adigital collectable card game.[17][18] Wishing to focus on game development, they hired Carl Manneh, a manager atjAlbum, Persson's former employer, as chief executive officer. Other significant early hires included Daniel Kaplan asbusiness developer, Markus Toivonen asart director, andJens Bergensten as lead programmer.[11]
In January 2011,Minecraft reached one million registered accounts and ten million six months thereafter. The continued success led Mojang to start the development of a new version for mobile devices. Due to the incompatibility of the game'sJava-based framework with mobile devices, this version was programmed inC++ instead. Another version, initially developed forXbox 360, was outsourced to Scotland-based developer4J Studios, which also used C++.[11]Scrolls was announced by Mojang in March 2011.[18] The studio's attempt to trademark the game's name resulted in a dispute withZeniMax Media, which cited similarities between the game's name and that of the ZeniMax-ownedThe Elder Scrolls series.[19] Kaplan stated in May 2011 that, due to many such requests in the past, Mojang was planning to publish or co-publish games from otherindie game studios.[20] Its first,Cobalt from Oxeye Game Studio, was announced in August.[21] An early version of the game was made available in December 2011, with the full game released in February 2016 for Xbox 360,Xbox One, andWindows.[22][23] A multiplayer-focused spin-off,Cobalt WASD, was also developed by Oxeye Game Studio and released by Mojang for Windows in November 2017 after some time inearly access.[24][25]
For the full release ofMinecraft, Mojang heldMinecon, a dedicatedconvention, inLas Vegas on 18–19 November 2011, withMinecraft formally being released during a presentation on the first day.[11][26] Thereafter, Minecon was turned into an annual event.[27] FollowingMinecraft's full release, Persson transferred his role as lead designer for the game to Bergensten in December 2011.[17]
Around this time, Manneh had discussion with a plethora ofventure capital firms, includingSequoia Capital andAccel Partners, but turned all of them down as the company did not require any funds.[28]Sean Parker, the co-founder ofNapster and former president ofFacebook, Inc., offered to privately invest in Mojang in 2011 but was turned down as well.[6][29] At the time, the studio ruled out being sold or becoming a public company to maintain its independence, which was said to have heavily contributed toMinecraft's success.[5][9] By March 2012,Minecraft had sold five million copies, amounting toUS$80 million in revenue.[29] In November, Mojang had 25 employees, and total revenues of$237.7 million in 2012.[5][30] In 2013, it released an education-focused version ofMinecraft forRaspberry Pi devices, and—after the exclusivity clause penned withMicrosoft over the availability of the game's console edition on Microsoft's platforms had expired—announced editions of the game forPlayStation 3,PlayStation 4, andPlayStation Vita.[11] In October 2013, Jonas Mårtensson, formerly of gambling company Betsson, was hired as Mojang's vice-president.[31] That year, Mojang recorded revenues of$330 million, of which$129 million were profit.[14]
Persson, exhausted from the pressure of being the owner ofMinecraft, published atweet in June 2014, asking whether anyone would be willing to buy his share in Mojang. Several parties expressed interest in this offer, includingActivision Blizzard,Electronic Arts, and Microsoft.[11]Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft'sXbox division, urged Microsoft's newly appointed chief executiveSatya Nadella to purchase Mojang to set out "a pretty bold vision" for Microsoft's gaming business.[32] Furthermore, the company had$2.5 billion inoffshore bank accounts that it could not bring back to the United States without payingrepatriation taxes.[28] Nadella separately stated the possible use ofMinecraft with theHoloLens, Microsoft'smixed reality device, to have been a major factor in pursuing the acquisition.[33] The company first approached Mojang regarding a potential acquisition in June 2014, making its first offer shortly thereafter. Mojang subsequently hired advisers fromJPMorgan Chase.[34][35]
Microsoft's agreement to purchase Mojang for$2.5 billion was announced on 15 September 2014.[36] Persson, Porsér and Manneh were the only shareholders at this time, of whom Persson owned 71% of shares.[28][37] The acquisition was finalised on 6 November and Mojang became part of theMicrosoft Studios branch.[37][38] As part of the transaction, Persson received$1.8 billion, while Porsér and Manneh got$300 million and$100 million, respectively.[28][34] All three subsequently left Mojang and Mårtensson succeeded Manneh.[11][39] According to Bergensten, the change in ownership went against the studio's independence-focused culture. Many employees were wary about the uncertainties they could face after the acquisition, and some staffers cried at the offices.[40][41] Everyone who remained with the company for six months thereafter was awarded a bonus of roughly$300,000 (after taxes), deducted from Persson's share.[28][42] Under the oversight of Microsoft's Matt Booty, Mojang's integration was minimal, leaving its operations independent but backed by Microsoft's financial and technical capabilities. This approach shaped how Microsoft would acquire other gaming companies.[43]
Scrolls was released out-of-beta in December 2014 and development of further content ceased in 2015.[44][45] Also in December 2014, Mojang andTelltale Games jointly announced a partnership in which the latter would developMinecraft: Story Mode, anepisodic, narrative-driven game set in theMinecraft universe.[46] In April 2016, Mojang releasedCrown and Council, a game entirely developed by artist Henrik Pettersson (who had been hired in August 2011), for free for Windows.[47][48] An update in January 2017 introducedLinux andmacOS versions.[49] Mojang discontinued the online services forScrolls in February 2018 and re-released the game under afree-to-play model and with the nameCaller's Bane in June.[45][50] Aiming to expand theMinecraft franchise with further games, Mojang developed twospin-offs:Minecraft Dungeons, adungeon crawler, andMinecraft Earth, anaugmented reality game in the vein ofPokémon Go. They were announced in September 2018 and May 2019, respectively.[51][52]
Minecraft Classic, the originalbrowser-based version ofMinecraft, was re-released for free on its ten-year anniversary in May 2019.[53] By this time,Minecraft had sold 147 million copies, making it thebest-selling video game of all time.[54] Persson was explicitly excluded from the anniversary's festivities due to several controversial statements of his involvingtransphobia and other issues; an update forMinecraft released the March before also removed several references to Persson.[55] On 17 May 2020,Minecraft's eleventh anniversary, Mojang announced its rebranding to Mojang Studios, aiming to reflect its multi-studio structure, and introduced a new logo.[56][57] The design was created at the agency Bold under the creative direction of Oliver Helfrich.[58]Minecraft Dungeons was released later that month for Windows,Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.[59] In June 2022, the studio announced the action-strategy gameMinecraft Legends.[60] Helen Chiang, the six-yearhead of studio for Mojang Studios, acceded to Xbox Game Studios in December 2023 and was replaced by Åsa Bredin in the same role.[61] When Bredin stepped down in February 2025 to focus on personal goals outside the company, Kayleen Walters was appointed in her place, in addition to Amy Stillion aschief of staff.[62]
| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Minecraft | Android,Fire OS,iOS,Linux,macOS,Raspberry Pi,tvOS,Windows,Windows Phone | [63] | |
| 2014 | Caller's Bane | Android, macOS, Windows | Originally titledScrolls | [44][50] |
| 2016 | Crown and Council | Linux, macOS, Windows | [48][49] | |
| 2020 | Minecraft Dungeons | Nintendo Switch,PlayStation 4, Windows,Xbox One | Co-developed withDouble Eleven | [59] |
| 2023 | Minecraft Legends | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4,PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One,Xbox Series X/S | Co-developed withBlackbird Interactive | [60] |
Mojang partnered withHumble Bundle in 2012 to launch Mojam, agame jam event to raise money for charity, as part of which Mojang developed theshoot 'em up mini-gameCatacomb Snatch. The including bundle was sold 81,575 times, raising$458,248.99.[64] The following year, Mojang developed three mini-games for Mojam 2.[65] The studio also participated in Humble Bundle's Games Against Ebola game jam in 2014 with three further mini-games.[66]
| Year | Title | Event | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Catacomb Snatch | Mojam | [67][68] |
| 2013 | Nuclear Pizza War | Mojam 2 | [69] |
| Endless Nuclear Kittens | |||
| Battle Frogs | |||
| 2014 | Docktor | Games Against Ebola | [66][70] |
| Healthcore Evolved | |||
| Snake Oil Stanley |
In 2011, Persson and Kaplan envisioned a hybrid ofMinecraft andLego bricks and agreed withthe Lego Group to develop the game asBrickcraft, codenamedRex Kwon Do (in reference to the filmNapoleon Dynamite).[71] The game has also been described as afirst-person shooter.[72][73] Mojang hired two new programmers to work on the game, while a prototype was created by Persson. However, Mojang cancelled the project after six months.[71] Upon announcing the cancellation in July 2012, Persson stated that the move was performed so that Mojang could focus on the games it wholly owned.[73] Daniel Mathiasen, a Lego Group employee at the time, later blamed the cancellation on a series of legal hurdles that the Lego Group had put in place to protect the product's family-friendly image. Kaplan lamented that the staff at Mojang had felt more like consultants on the project, rather than its designers. The Lego Group also considered acquiring Mojang at this point but later decided against doing so as they had not foreseen thatMinecraft would become as popular as it would at one point be.[71]
In March 2012, Persson revealed that he would be designing a sandboxspace trading and combat simulator in the likes ofElite.[74] Titled0x10c, it was to be set in the year 281,474,976,712,644 AD in aparallel universe.[75][76] The project was shelved by August 2013, with Persson citing a lack of interest and acreative block.[17][77]Minecraft Earth was made available as an early-access game in November 2019 forAndroid andiOS.[78] In January 2021, it was announced that the game would be withdrawn from sale in June that year, with all player data deleted in July. Mojang Studios cited the ongoingCOVID-19 pandemic as primary reason for the game's closure, as its effects conflicted with the game's concept.[79]
| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Developer(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Cobalt | Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Oxeye Game Studio | [23] |
| 2017 | Cobalt WASD | Windows | [24] |
In August 2011, after Mojang had attempted to trademark the word "Scrolls" for their game, ZeniMax Media, theparent company ofThe Elder Scrolls publisherBethesda Softworks, issued acease and desist letter, claiming thatScrollsinfringed on ZeniMax's "The Elder Scrolls" trademark, that Mojang could not use the name, and that ZeniMax would sue the studio over the word's usage.[19][80] Persson offered to give up the trademark and giveScrolls a subtitle. However, as Mojang ignored the cease and desist letter, ZeniMax filed the lawsuit in September.[19][81][82] Bethesda's Pete Hines stated that Bethesda was not responsible for the lawsuit, rather the issue was centred around "lawyers who understand it".[83][84] Mojang won aninterim injunction in October, the ruling being thatScrolls andThe Elder Scrolls were too easy to differentiate, though ZeniMax could still appeal the ruling.[85][86] In March 2012, Mojang and ZeniMax settled, with all "Scrolls" trademarks and trademark applications being transferred to ZeniMax, who would in turn licence the name to Mojang for use withScrolls and add-on content, but not for sequels or any other games with similar names.[87][88]
On 20 July 2012,Uniloc, a company specialising indigital rights management technologies, filed a lawsuit against Mojang, stating that the licence verification system inMinecraft's Android versioninfringed on one of Uniloc's patents.[89][90] The case wasUniloc USA, Inc. et al v. Mojang AB and was filed with theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.[91] In response tohate mail, Uniloc founderRic Richardson denied his involvement, claiming to have only filed the patent.[92] The patent was invalidated in March 2016.[93]
In July 2013, theminigolf chainPutt-Putt issued a cease and desist letter against Mojang andDon Mattrick (who was previously affiliated withMinecraft's Xbox 360 version but had since joinedZynga), alleging that they infringed on its "Putt-Putt" trademark. Attached to the letter, which Persson shared on Twitter, was aGoogle Search screenshot showing videos of user-created maps using the name. Alex Chapman, Mojang's lawyer, stated "I think there is clearly a misunderstanding here as to whatMinecraft actually is. It's a game that, among other things, allows people to build things. Mojang doesn't control what users build and Mojang doesn't control the content of the videos users make. Suing Mojang for what people do usingMinecraft is like suing Microsoft for what people do usingWord."[94][95]
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