If you take a look at someone like Markus "Notch" Persson, he was on a roll of being incredibly famous and at the head of one of the best-liked games in the world.
It was too much pressure at the top, though, and he sold the project to Microsoft and became a billionaire; but what that actually meant is that Microsoft took it over entirely, and he was nothing. He didn't even get the position of "esteemed creative inventor who now only occasionally provides creative direction instead of being responsible for every last thing", that some people get when they sell their projects to faceless behemoths.
He had a further fall from grace in that the public didn't like his stated values on social media, and Microsoft took the opportunity to completely erase him from Minecraft - removed all mention of his name, and he's not invited to anything.
So now he sits alone in his mansion and cries himself to sleep, because while "never work again" money is nice to have, he'd rather have the kudos and recognition of being the creator of a much-loved game. And that's the one thing he can't have any more.
It is interesting to contrast Notch's arc with Zach Barth's, if you are familiar with the Infiniminer[1] connection. The latter has continued to make small idiosyncratic games with a small team and following his own interests.
There's another part of his story, where he did try make new games post-Minecraft and never got very far, and eventually gave up on making anything on a larger scale again. Scrolls had a lot of issues in development. 0x10c had some interesting ideas, but there was no way it would ever be "the next Minecraft".
> So now he sits alone in his mansion and cries himself to sleep, because while "never work again" money is nice to have, he'd rather have the kudos and recognition of being the creator of a much-loved game. And that's the one thing he can't have any more.
I mean, do we actually know that? I haven't heard anything about Notch in years and years, but I just assumed it was because he was hanging out with his friends and family and enjoying his wealth. It's certainly what I'd do in his shoes, but maybe he's said he doesn't enjoy how things out and I was unaware.
That's sound advice, but to give a comparison: Roman Polanski didn't just post divisive tweets, he drugged and raped a 13 year old girl and has been a fugitive from justice for more than 40 years now. Surely that's worse? And yet, people still keep funding his film making, and his name is on all the films. Why is a rapist given full credit for his creative works, while an idiot with a twitter account stripped of his credit?
It would seem odd, that if he did sign that away, that he nonetheless appeared in the credits of Minecraft, until he caused social media fury, and then Microsoft removed him from the credits.
It does seem crazy to me, given he lived in Sweden, where copyright transfers only economic rights, not moral rights (such as the right to be identified as the creator of a work), but allows the author to waive their moral rights, that he would waive his moral rights.
In any case, he seems pretty miserable, regardless of his twitter outbursts.
It’s not remotely odd, his behaviour online made his name a liability to the Minecraft brand and Microsoft made steps to distance him from it.
For most game developers, getting a credit on a game is not a creative badge of honour, it is sometimes the only hard proof that they worked on a title. It’s part of their portfolio and often essential for their future career and earning potential. This is why they fight so hard for a credit that is essentially free for a company to give.
Everybody knows Notch made Minecraft. He no longer depends on the credit for his future earnings. He chose to give it up.
It was too much pressure at the top, though, and he sold the project to Microsoft and became a billionaire; but what that actually meant is that Microsoft took it over entirely, and he was nothing. He didn't even get the position of "esteemed creative inventor who now only occasionally provides creative direction instead of being responsible for every last thing", that some people get when they sell their projects to faceless behemoths.
He had a further fall from grace in that the public didn't like his stated values on social media, and Microsoft took the opportunity to completely erase him from Minecraft - removed all mention of his name, and he's not invited to anything.
So now he sits alone in his mansion and cries himself to sleep, because while "never work again" money is nice to have, he'd rather have the kudos and recognition of being the creator of a much-loved game. And that's the one thing he can't have any more.