page_title: Mojang Studios
section_title: Continued growth (2011–2013)
hierarchical_section_title: Mojang Studios / History / Continued growth (2011–2013)
caption_attribution_description: Svenska: Maria Skolgata 83, Stockholm
context_page_description: Mojang Studios is a Swedish video game developer and a studio of Xbox Game Studios based in Stockholm. It was founded by Markus Persson in 2009 as Mojang Specifications, inheriting the name from a previous video game venture he left two years prior. Mojang began development on the sandbox game Minecraft that year, which would become the best-selling video game of all time and establish a successful multimedia franchise. Persson, in conjunction with Jakob Porsér, incorporated the business as Mojang AB in late 2010 and hired Carl Manneh as chief executive officer. With a desire to move on from Minecraft, Persson offered to sell his share in Mojang, and the company was wholly acquired by Microsoft through Xbox Game Studios in November 2014. Persson, Porsér and Manneh subsequently left Mojang, with Jonas Mårtensson replacing Manneh. In May 2020, Mojang was rebranded as Mojang Studios.
  As of 2016, the company employs 70 people in its Stockholm offices, including chief executive officer Mårtensson and chief operating officer Vu Bui.
context_section_description: In January 2011, Minecraft reached one million registered accounts, as well as ten million six months thereafter. The continued success led Mojang to start development of a new version for mobile devices. Due to the incompatibility of the game's Java-based framework with mobile devices, this version was programmed in C++ instead. Another version, initially developed for Xbox 360, was outsourced to Scotland-based developer 4J Studios, which also used C++. Scrolls was announced by Mojang in March 2011. The studio's attempt to trademark the game's name resulted in a dispute with ZeniMax Media, which cited similarities between the game's name and that of the ZeniMax-owned The Elder Scrolls series. Kaplan stated in May 2011 that, due to many such requests in the past, Mojang was planning to publish or co-publish games from other indie game studios. Its first, Cobalt from Oxeye Game Studio, was announced in August. 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, and Microsoft Windows. A multiplayer-focused spin-off, Cobalt WASD, was also developed by Oxeye Game Studio and released by Mojang for Microsoft Windows in November 2017, following a phase in early access.
  For the full release of Minecraft, Mojang held Minecon, a dedicated convention event, in Las Vegas on 18–19 November 2011, with Minecraft, formally being released during a presentation on the first day. Thereafter, Minecon was turned into an annual event. Following Minecraft's full release, Persson transferred his role as lead designer for the game to Bergensten in December 2011.
  Among others, Sean Parker, the co-founder of Napster and former president of Facebook, offered to invest in Mojang in 2011 but was turned down. 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 to Minecraft's success. By March 2012, Minecraft had sold five million copies, amounting to US$80 million in revenue. In November, Mojang had 25 employees, and total revenues of $237.7 million in 2012. In 2013, it released an education-focused version of Minecraft for Raspberry Pi devices, and—after the exclusivity clause penned with Microsoft over the availability of the game's console edition on Microsoft's platforms had expired—announced editions of the game for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita. In October 2013, Jonas Mårtensson, formerly of gambling company Betsson, was hired as Mojang's vice-president. That year, Mojang recorded revenues of $330 million, of which $129 million were profit.
caption: Mojang's former office building at Maria Skolgata 83, Stockholm
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