Rust creator applauds Mojang sale to Microsoft, says he'd do the same thing

Microsoft bought Mojang yesterday—you may have heard something about that . You may also have heard grumblings from some corners of the community that Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson "sold out" by taking the money and abandoning his game—and, by extension, his millions of adoring fans—to the fickle whims of of a corporate villain. But Garry Newman, the man behind indie darlings Garry's Mod and Rust , says he'd do exactly the same thing if he could, and you probably would too.

Newman pointed out in a blog post that went up shortly after the Mojang deal was was confirmed that everything changes for an indie developer once he starts hiring people to work for him, because you're suddenly responsible for a lot more people than just yourself. Citing the case of Blitz Game Studios , which shut down in September 2013, laying off 175 employees, and then effectively re-launched in November under a new name, he wrote, "Those are the guys you don't want to be."

"I am sure more than the top guys at Mojang became very financially rich due to this deal and that's something that should be admired—not seen as a bad thing," he continued. "Long story short, I'd have done the same thing. The money is enough to very much take care of all the staff. The game is in relatively safe hands. Mojang's legacy is as a huge success story instead of a one hit wonder. Everyone wins. Can you seriously say you'd have done it differently?"

No, Garry. No, I cannot.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.