Today, Variety has reported that the creator of Minecraft, Marcus “Notch” Persson is not going to be part of the 10-year anniversary plans for the game. A Microsoft spokesperson said, “his comments and opinions do not reflect those of Microsoft or Mojang and are not representative of Minecraft.”
“Notch” has not been involved with the game since 2014 when he sold Minecraft to Microsoft for $2.5 billion. He has made comments on Twitter which include transphobic statements and comments about a “heterosexual pride day”; Another tweet reads “it’s ok to be white”.
Microsoft and Mojang have been updating the game that removes “Notch” from the game completely. Last month’s update removed text from the loading screen that references him.
Microsoft and Mojang are having a press event at their studio in Stockholm on May 17. The event will focus on the “past, present and exciting future of the decade-old franchise”.
In other Minecraft related news, Mojang has donated $100k to Charity: Water. The donation was made after the company challenged the community to reach 100,000 downloads of The Traveling Trader which is a new map and skin pack.
In other Microsoft related news, the latest Inside Xbox episode officially revealed the All Digital Xbox One S and the new Game Pass Ultimate Subscription.
The Xbox One S All-Digital Edition will come bundled with Minecraft, Forza Horizon 3, and Sea of Thieves. It releases on May 7.
The Game Pass Ultimate Subscription includes all of the benefits of Xbox Live Gold with Xbox Game Pass which gives you access to a library of over 100 games.
Microsoft also revealed that their E3 2019 briefing will take place on June 9 at 1 PM PDT.
Square Enix also just shared information about their E3 plans. The company revealed that they will be holding a press conference for the second year in a row. Square Enix Live E3 2019 will occur on June 10 at 6Pm PDT.