무엇이 그를 떠나게 만들었을까? 지난 새벽, 모장의 마이크로소프트로의 피인수가 발표된 이후, 모장의 공동설립자이자 대표였던 '노치' 마르쿠스 페르손은 자신의 블로그를 통해 '난 모장을 떠난다'는 제목으로 일련의 메세지를 남겼다.
그는 "난 나를 진정한 게임 개발자로 보지 않는다. 난 그저 재미를 위해 게임을 만들었고, 게임을 사랑하고 프로그램을 사랑하기 때문에 그래왔다. 하지만 나는 게임을 상업적으로 크게 성공시킬 목적이나 혹은 세상을 바꾸기 위해서 만들어오지는 않았다."고 글을 시작하며, 모장을 떠나는 이유는 심적인 부담감 때문이라고 밝혔다.
마르쿠스 페르손은 최근 북미에서 불거진 한 여성 게임개발자와 관련된 북미 게임계의 스캔들, 속칭 '조이 퀸 스캔들'에서 조이 퀸 측을 지지한 것으로 알려지면서 이에 반발한 팬들에게 지속적인 항의를 받아왔으며, 이것이 결정적인 이유가 된 것으로 보인다.
특히나 그는 블로그 포스팅 내용 중, 마찬가지로 조이 퀸을 옹호했다 맹렬한 비난과 지탄을 받고 게임계를 떠난다고 선언한 'FEZ'의 개발자 '필 피쉬' 자크 폴 필리프 푸아송의 예를 들었다. 유저들이 그를 비난하기 위해 제작한 유투브 영상을 제시하며 "이걸 보고 나와 팬들이 내 생각처럼 연결되어있지 않다는걸 깨달아가기 시작했다"고 언급했다.
또한 '노치'는 이번 모장의 피인수 역시 자신이 트위터를 통해 처음 의견을 냈으며 그것이 성사되었고, "내 공공 이미지는 이미 훼손되었지만, 이제는 어떤 부정적인 의견들을 읽어야만 하거나 내가 그것에 관해 책임감을 느낄 필요가 없다."며 해방감을 피력했다. 끝으로, "이것은 돈에 얽힌 문제가 아니다. 내 온전한 정신건강을 위한 것이다."라며 글을 마쳤다.
한편, 이번 모장의 매각 직전 '노치'는 모장의 주식 중 40% 가량의 지분을 보유하고 있었던 것으로 알려졌으며, 이번 매각으로 인해 그가 벌어들인 수익은 최소 1조 원에서 최대 2조 6천억 원 사이로 추정되고 있다.
'노치' 마르쿠스 페르손이 작성한 글 원문은 그의 블로그에서 확인할 수 있다.
■ '노치' 마르쿠스 페르손의 메세지 전문
I’m leaving Mojang
I don’t see myself as a real game developer. I make games because it’s fun, and because I love games and I love to program, but I don’t make games with the intention of them becoming huge hits, and I don’t try to change the world. Minecraft certainly became a huge hit, and people are telling me it’s changed games. I never meant for it to do either. It’s certainly flattering, and to gradually get thrust into some kind of public spotlight is interesting.
A relatively long time ago, I decided to step down from Minecraft development. Jens was the perfect person to take over leading it, and I wanted to try to do new things. At first, I failed by trying to make something big again, but since I decided to just stick to small prototypes and interesting challenges, I’ve had so much fun with work. I wasn’t exactly sure how I fit into Mojang where people did actual work, but since people said I was important for the culture, I stayed.
I was at home with a bad cold a couple of weeks ago when the internet exploded with hate against me over some kind of EULA situation that I had nothing to do with. I was confused. I didn’t understand. I tweeted this in frustration. Later on, I watched the This is Phil Fish video on YouTube and started to realize I didn’t have the connection to my fans I thought I had. I’ve become a symbol. I don’t want to be a symbol, responsible for something huge that I don’t understand, that I don’t want to work on, that keeps coming back to me. I’m not an entrepreneur. I’m not a CEO. I’m a nerdy computer programmer who likes to have opinions on Twitter.
As soon as this deal is finalized, I will leave Mojang and go back to doing Ludum Dares and small web experiments. If I ever accidentally make something that seems to gain traction, I’ll probably abandon it immediately.
Considering the public image of me already is a bit skewed, I don’t expect to get away from negative comments by doing this, but at least now I won’t feel a responsibility to read them.
I’m aware this goes against a lot of what I’ve said in public. I have no good response to that. I’m also aware a lot of you were using me as a symbol of some perceived struggle. I’m not. I’m a person, and I’m right there struggling with you.
I love you. All of you. Thank you for turning Minecraft into what it has become, but there are too many of you, and I can’t be responsible for something this big. In one sense, it belongs to Microsoft now. In a much bigger sense, it’s belonged to all of you for a long time, and that will never change.
It’s not about the money. It’s about my sanity.
I don’t see myself as a real game developer. I make games because it’s fun, and because I love games and I love to program, but I don’t make games with the intention of them becoming huge hits, and I don’t try to change the world. Minecraft certainly became a huge hit, and people are telling me it’s changed games. I never meant for it to do either. It’s certainly flattering, and to gradually get thrust into some kind of public spotlight is interesting.
A relatively long time ago, I decided to step down from Minecraft development. Jens was the perfect person to take over leading it, and I wanted to try to do new things. At first, I failed by trying to make something big again, but since I decided to just stick to small prototypes and interesting challenges, I’ve had so much fun with work. I wasn’t exactly sure how I fit into Mojang where people did actual work, but since people said I was important for the culture, I stayed.
I was at home with a bad cold a couple of weeks ago when the internet exploded with hate against me over some kind of EULA situation that I had nothing to do with. I was confused. I didn’t understand. I tweeted this in frustration. Later on, I watched the This is Phil Fish video on YouTube and started to realize I didn’t have the connection to my fans I thought I had. I’ve become a symbol. I don’t want to be a symbol, responsible for something huge that I don’t understand, that I don’t want to work on, that keeps coming back to me. I’m not an entrepreneur. I’m not a CEO. I’m a nerdy computer programmer who likes to have opinions on Twitter.
As soon as this deal is finalized, I will leave Mojang and go back to doing Ludum Dares and small web experiments. If I ever accidentally make something that seems to gain traction, I’ll probably abandon it immediately.
Considering the public image of me already is a bit skewed, I don’t expect to get away from negative comments by doing this, but at least now I won’t feel a responsibility to read them.
I’m aware this goes against a lot of what I’ve said in public. I have no good response to that. I’m also aware a lot of you were using me as a symbol of some perceived struggle. I’m not. I’m a person, and I’m right there struggling with you.
I love you. All of you. Thank you for turning Minecraft into what it has become, but there are too many of you, and I can’t be responsible for something this big. In one sense, it belongs to Microsoft now. In a much bigger sense, it’s belonged to all of you for a long time, and that will never change.
It’s not about the money. It’s about my sanity.
desk@inven.co.kr