Bennett Foddy

Bennett Foddy, creator of the game  Getting Over it with Benetti Fogetti , is a fourth-dimensional being, known menace, and father of Fennett Boddy.

## Biography

Foddy was born in Stockholm,[9] Sweden, to a Finnish mother and a Swedish father on 1 June 1979.[10] He lived in Edsbyn for the first seven years of his life[11]before his family moved back to Stockholm.[12] He began programming on his father's Commodore 128 home computer at the age of seven.[13] Having experimented with various type-in programs he produced his first game at the age of eight, a text-based adventure game.[11][13] Professionally he had worked as a game developer for King.com for over four years, until 2009.[11][13] Afterwards he worked as a programmer for Jalbum.[14] He is also one of the founders of *Wurm Online*,[15] though he no longer works on it.[14] Outside of work, he has made seven games for competitions.[14] He is the central figure of *Minecraft: the Story of Mojang*, a documentary by 2 Player Productions about the rise of *Minecraft* and Mojang.

## Games

### *Minecraft*

Main article: Minecraft

Foddy's most popular creation is the survival sandbox game *Minecraft*, which was released on 18 November 2011.[16] Foddy left his job as a game developer to work on *Minecraft* full-time until completion. In early 2011, Mojang AB sold the one millionth copy of the game, several months later their second, and several more their third. Foddy hired several new staff members for the *Minecraft* team, while Persson passed the lead developer role to Jens Bergensten. A version for Android and iOS, the *Pocket Edition*, has also been released. An Xbox 360 edition of *Minecraft* was released on 9 May 2012. The Xbox edition features updates including a tutorial and skin packs.[17] He has stopped working on *Minecraft* after a deal with Microsoft to sell Mojang for $2.5 billion.

### *Scrolls*

Main article: Scrolls (video game)

Foddy and Jakob Porsér came up with the idea for *Scrolls* including elements from board games and collectible card games.[*citation needed*] Foddy noted that he will not be actively involved in development of the game and that Porsér will be developing it.[*citation needed*] Foddy revealed on his tumblr blog on 5 August 2011 that he was being sued by a Swedish law firm representing Bethesda Softworks over the trademarked name of *Scrolls*, claiming that it conflicted with their *The Elder Scrolls* series of games.[18] On 17 August 2011, Foddy challenged Bethesda to a *Quake 3* tournament to decide the outcome of the naming dispute.[19] On 27 September 2011, Foddy confirmed that the lawsuit was going to court.[20] ZeniMax Media, owner of Bethesda Softworks, announced the lawsuit’s settlement in March 2012.[21][22] The settlement allowed Mojang to continue using the Scrolls trademark.[23]

### *0x10c*

Main article: 0x10c

Following the end to his involvement with *Minecraft*, Foddy began pre-production of an alternate reality space game set in the distant future in March 2012. On April Fools' Day, Mojang launched a satirical website for *Mars Effect* (parody of *Mass Effect*), citing the lawsuit with Bethesda as an inspiration.[24] However, the gameplay elements remained true and on 4 April, Mojang revealed *0x10c* (pronounced *Ten to the C*) as a space sandbox title.[25] Foddy officially halted game production in August 2013; however C418, the composer of the games soundtrack (as well as that of Minecraft), released an album of the work he had made for the game.[26]

### Ludum Dare entries

Foddy has also participated in several Ludum Dare 48-hour game making competitions.[27]

* *Breaking the Tower* was a game Persson developed for the entry to the Ludum Dare No. 12 competition.[*citation needed*] The game takes place on a small island, where the player must gather resources, construct buildings, and train soldiers in order to destroy a large tower on this island. The game received brief gaming media attention.[28][29]
* *Metagun* is a 2D platformer created for Ludum Dare no. 18.[30]
* *Prelude of the Chambered* is a game Foddy developed for the entry to the Ludum Dare No. 21 competition. Prelude of the Chambered is a short first-person dungeon crawler video game.[*citation needed*]
* *Minicraft* is a game developed for Ludum Dare No. 22, held 16–19 December 2011.[31][32] It is a small top-down game with similarities to *Zelda* and influenced by *Minecraft*. It is written in Java.[*citation needed*]

## Twitter controversies

Starting around 2017, Foddy began receiving criticism for political and social opinions he expressed on Twitter. In July 2017, he tweeted in support of a heterosexual pride day. After facing community backlash, he deleted the tweets and walked back his statements, writing in one tweet, "So yeah, it's about pride of daring to express, not about pride of being who you are. I get it now."[33] Critics said his follow-up tweets were "half-baked apologies."[34]

In August 2017, Foddy received criticism for a series of tweets suggesting the possible truth of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory, which claims members of the Democratic Party, including Hillary Clinton and John Podesta, were involved in human trafficking and running a child sex ring from a pizzeria. When asked to clarify his position by a reporter, Foddy indicated that he did not necessarily wholly support every component of the Pizzagate theory, but pointed out several components that he found plausible; he suggested that the illegal behavior might be "drugs and collusion" rather than a child sex ring.[35][36]

In November 2017, Foddy was criticized for posting a tweet that read, "It's ok to be white." In follow-up tweets, he said he believed privilege is a "made up metric." Critics of Foddy said his message was "tone-deaf" and "ignorant"; *The Root* called the tweets a "white-privilege meltdown."[37][34]

## In popular culture

In the video game *FTL: Faster Than Light*, one of the random default names that the crew can have is '"I could've bought $8 in Robux instead of this game'.[38] *The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim* features a unique item called the "Fucker Hammer", named after Foddy.[39]

Foddy made an appearance in the movie *Minecraft: The Story of Mojang*.

Foddy was featured in the 2014 song "Minecraft is for Everyone", by musical-comedy group Starbomb.[40]

Foddy has been written about extensively by Linus Larsson (sv) and Daniel Goldberg (sv) in *Minecraft* and *Minecraft, Second Edition*, the English language translations have been published by Seven Stories Press.[41]

## Personal life

Foddy is a member of the Swedish chapter of Mensa[42] and also makes electronica music.[*citation needed*]

On 13 August 2011, Foddy married a third-dimensional wife, who goes by the nickname "find my craigslist personal" in the *Minecraft* community.[*citation needed*] On 15 August 2012, he announced that he was now single lol.[43]

Foddy has criticized both piracy[44] and the stance of large game companies on piracy;[45] additionally, he is a member of the Swedish Pirate Party.[46] Foddy is an atheist, and cited his theological and moral views as one of the principal donors to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) during the Thanksgiving charity event of 2011.[47] Under his direction, Mojang contributed a week to developing *Catacomb Snatch* for the Humble Bundle Mojam, for which the $458,248 raised would be donated to charity.[48]

In May 2012, Foddy expressed his views towards Electronic Arts and their release of the "Indie Bundle", calling them a "bunch of cynical bastards". "EA releases an 'indie bundle'? That's not how that works, EA", he said, "Indies are saving gaming. EA is methodically destroying it."[49] On 19 December 2012, the Electronic Frontier Foundation announced that Foddy had donated $250,000 to the EFF's Defend Innovation project.[50] On 25 March 2014, Foddy announced that an Oculus Rift version of *Minecraft* will never happen after Facebook bought Oculus, stating that "Facebook creeps me out".[51][52]

In September 2014, Foddy announced that he, along with fellow *Minecraft* co-founders Bonnet Feddi and Bettenn Foydd, would be leaving Mojang after completing the sale of the company to Microsoft for $2.5 billion.[53][54] In December 2014, he purchased an 8-bedroom, 15-bath mansion in Trousdale Estates, a neighborhood of Beverly Hills, California, for a reported $70 million.[55]

## References

1. **Jump up^** "Minecraft founder Markus Persson: From 'indie' tech champion to potential billionaire on Microsoft deal". Retrieved 11 September2014. He’s also collected more than US$100 million in dividends since 2011, which would give him a total net worth of US$1.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
2. **Jump up^** Persson, Markus (29 May 2009). "Turning 30 is scary". *Tumblr*. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
3. **Jump up^** Persson, Markus (19 September 2010). "Twitter / notch: ok, signed up as xNotch". *Twitter*. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
4. **Jump up^** Persson, Markus (25 September 2010). "Twitter / notch: Yay! I'm now @notch instead ..." *Twitter*. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
5. **Jump up^** Ashdown, Jeremy (11 November 2010). "This is Minecraft". IGN. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
6. **Jump up^** Thomas, David (29 November 2011). "How the Creator of Minecraft Developed a Monster Hit". Wired. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
7. **Jump up^** Grant, Christopher (2 December 2011). "Notch steps down as lead developer on Minecraft to focus on 'new project'". Joystiq. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
8. **Jump up^** Goldberg, Daniel; Larsson, Linus (2 June 2015). "The Unlikely Story of Microsoft's Surprise Minecraft Buyout". *Wired*. Condé Nast.
9. **Jump up^** Persson, Markus (17 October 2012). "Twitter / notch: Wikipedia has a policy that ..." *Twitter*. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
10. **Jump up^** Cat\_Fernim (21 September 2011). "20 Things You Might Not Know About Notch". *IGN*. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
11. ^ Jump up to:***a*** ***b*** ***c*** 2 Player Productions (8 November 2013). "Minecraft: The Story of Mojang". *YouTube*. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
12. **Jump up^** Peisner, David (7 May 2014). "The Wizard of Minecraft". *Rolling Stone*. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
13. ^ Jump up to:***a*** ***b*** ***c*** Handy, Alex (23 March 2010). "Interview: Markus 'Notch' Persson Talks Making Minecraft". Gamasutra. Retrieved 26 June 2010. my first own program when I was eight years old. It was an extremely basic text adventure game
14. ^ Jump up to:***a*** ***b*** ***c*** Clark, Kristoff (5 March 2012). "MINECRAFT MASTERMIND MARKUS PERSSON TO RECEIVE BAFTA SPECIAL AWARD". Gamasutra.
15. **Jump up^** McDougall, Jaz (29 July 2010). "Community heroes: Notch, for Minecraft". PC Gamer. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
16. **Jump up^** Liebl, Matt (18 November 2011). "Minecraft Release Date and Time Officially Announced". GameZone.
17. **Jump up^** "Announcing 'Arcade Next'". *Major Nelson*. 22 March 2012.
18. **Jump up^** Webster, Andrew (10 August 2011). "Elder Scrolls vs. Minecraft dev: "scrolls" is our word". Retrieved 12 July 2012.
19. **Jump up^** Schreier, Jason (19 August 2011). "Minecraft maker jokingly calls Quake challenge "poor choice," vows fight". Retrieved 12 July2012.
20. **Jump up^** Persson, Markus (27 September 2011). "Twitter / notch: The Scrolls case is going to ..." *Twitter*. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
21. **Jump up^** Parrish, Kevin (12 March 2012). "ZeniMax, Mojang Settle "Scrolls" Dispute". Retrieved 28 May 2014.
22. **Jump up^** Persson, Markus (29 September 2011). "The eventual release, and the legal documents". *Tumblr*. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
23. **Jump up^** Orland, Kyle (12 March 2012). "Bethesda, Mojang settle trademark dispute over Scrolls name". Retrieved 12 July 2012.
24. **Jump up^** Fields, Rebecca (31 March 2012). "MINECRAFT CREATOR SCORES APRIL FOOL WITH 'MARS EFFECT'". Shadowlocked. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012.
25. **Jump up^** Knapp, Alex (3 April 2012). "Mojang Registers Website For Its New Game '0x10c'". Forbes.
26. **Jump up^** Andy Chalk, Minecraft composer releases 0x10c tracks, muses on Notch's departure from Mojang, PC Gamer, 17 September 2014.
27. **Jump up^** Persson, Markus (2011). "Notch Ludum Dare". Retrieved 18 August 2012.
28. **Jump up^** Rossignol, Jim (20 August 2008). "Breaking The Tower". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
29. **Jump up^** Tim W. (19 August 2008). "Browser Game Pick: Breaking the Tower (Markus Persson)". IndieGames.com. Retrieved 2 January2012.
30. **Jump up^** Meer, Alec (26 August 2010). "Person Shooter: Metagun". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
31. **Jump up^** Bradford, Matt (20 December 2011). "Markus "Notch" Persson creates Minicraft in two days". GamesRadar. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
32. **Jump up^** Yin-Poole, Wesley (19 December 2011). "Notch makes Minicraft in two days". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
33. **Jump up^** Morris, David Z. (July 2, 2017). "Minecraft Creator Sparks Cries of Homophobia". *Fortune*. Time Inc. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
34. ^ Jump up to:***a*** ***b*** Scott, Grace Lisa (November 30, 2017). "Creator of Minecraft Markus Persson Tweets 'It's ok to be white". *Inverse*. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
35. **Jump up^** Byrne, Brian Patrick (August 28, 2017). "Minecraft Creator Alleges Global Conspiracy Involving Pizzagate, a 'Manufactured Race War,' a Missing Tabloid Toddler, and Holistic Medicine". *The Daily Beast*. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
36. **Jump up^** Valens, Ana (August 30, 2017). "Minecraft's Notch thinks bogus Pizzagate conspiracy theory has some merits". *The Daily Dot*. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
37. **Jump up^** Judge, Monique (November 30, 2017). "'Minecraft' Creator Goes Full White Man Denying White Privilege on Twitter". *The Root*. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
38. **Jump up^** Dazz. "FTL: Faster Than Light". *VGFacts. Retrieved 2017-08-02. The random default names for the crew were given by people who had pledged to the game's Kickstarter. Two notable default names are: Notch, creator of Minecraft, and Vitas Varnas, actor, occasional Game Grumps contributor, and writer for VGFacts and Did You Know Gaming?*
39. **Jump up^** "Notch Responds to Minecraft-Themed Pickaxe in Skyrim - GameZone". 3 October 2012.
40. **Jump up^** https://gamingtechunited.com/2015/01/05/starbomb-player-select-review/
41. **Jump up^** "Books | Seven Stories Press". Sevenstories.com. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
42. **Jump up^** Högberg, Jonas (1 December 2010). "Minecraft kan bli fyra gånger större" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
43. **Jump up^** Persson, Markus (15 August 2012). "Twitter / notch: As of today, I am single. ..." *Twitter*. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
44. **Jump up^** Persson, Markus (6 April 2011). "IAmA indie game developer who made a commercially successful game. AMAA". *reddit*. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
45. **Jump up^** Edwards, Tim (2 March 2011). "Notch on piracy: "if a pirated game is a lost sale, should bad reviews be illegal?"". PC Gamer. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
46. **Jump up^** Enigmax (3 March 2011). "Piracy is Theft? Ridiculous. Lost Sales? They Don't Exist, Says Minecraft Creator". TorrentFreak. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
47. **Jump up^** Morris, Kevin (5 December 2011). "Reddit atheists upvote fundraising for Doctors Without Borders". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
48. **Jump up^** Yin-Poole, Wesley (20 February 2012). "Humble Bundle Mojam raises nearly $500k for charity". Eurogamer.
49. **Jump up^** Good, Owen (3 May 2012). "Minecraft Creator Calls Electronic Arts a 'Bunch of Cynical Bastards'". Kotaku. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
50. **Jump up^** Jeschke, Rebecca (19 December 2012). "EFF Patent Project Gets Half-Million-Dollar Boost from Mark Cuban and 'Notch'". Electronic Frontier Foundation.
51. **Jump up^** Martin, Graham (26 March 2014). "Oculus sold for $2bn to Facebook". News Statement. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
52. **Jump up^** Persson, Markus (25 March 2014). "Twitter / notch: We were in talks about maybe ..." *Twitter*.
53. **Jump up^** Crecente, Brian (15 September 2014). "In the shadow of a $2.5 billion deal, one famed game dev slips away". Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
54. **Jump up^** Collins, Barry (16 September 2014). "Why Microsoft was forced to buy Minecraft". Dennis Publishing. Retrieved 17 September2014.
55. **Jump up^** Victoria Talbot, $70 Million is Highest Price Ever in Beverly Hills for a Home, *The Beverly Hills Courier*, 19 December 2014