Minecraft is big business, not just for Mojang but for a lot of people who make a lot of money creating and posting videos about the game on YouTube. The game is now in the hands of Microsoft, but Mojang Chief Operating Officer Vu Bui says it remains as supportive as ever of the video scene.
"We have a whole slew of people who are making their entire living just off making videos about Minecraft. Just the economics of that – how many people are making a living off this one IP – is pretty awesome," Bui said in an interview with the Guardian. "That doesn’t take anything away from us, and I would say it actually adds value to Minecraft, to have people who are extremely talented and creative doing things. We’ve essentially outsourced YouTube videos to a community of millions of people, and what they come up with is more creative than anything we could make ourselves."
A kerfuffle erupted over the summer when developer Erik "Grum" Broes reminded everyone that charging for in-game perks was against the Minecraft EULA. Those rules were ultimately loosened in a license agreement update released shortly after the dispute began, and Bui insisted that the studio isn't looking to reverse its light-handed approach.
"We want to make most of our money from selling games. We’re not here to penny-pinch the creatives out there using our property to create cool content," he said. "We have this massive group of people creating amazing things. Why would we want to hinder that in any way?"
Bui said Mojang also intends to clarify, "in the next month or two hopefully," how fans can use the Minecraft brand outside of the game.
