Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski says the cancellation of Minecraft for the Oculus Rift is a “bratty and petty move.”
Update: Notch has replied to Bleszinski’s blog post with a single, succinct tweet:
CliffyB, one of the investors in Oculus, calls me a "pouty kid" for cancelling the Minecraft thing. Damn straight I am.— Markus Persson (@notch) March 27, 2014
Original Story:
Emotions have been running high in the wake of Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus VR, as everyone tries to figure out what it means and how it will affect the future of the device. Probably the highest-profile doomsayer is Markus “Notch” Persson, the creator of Minecraft, who very quickly canceled the development of an Oculus Rift version of his famous game. “I did not chip in ten grand to seed a first investment round to build value for a Facebook acquisition,” he said.
But on the other side of the coin is Cliff Bleszinski, he of Gears of War fame, who doesn’t think the Facebook acquisition is a bad thing at all. Facebook certainly bears criticism for its cavalier treatment of privacy, but it also offers reach and resources that Oculus needs if it’s going to flourish.
“Your device is only as good as the store and community around it; if users can’t say shut up and take my money, if developers can’t post their work then the device will ultimately flounder,” Bleszinski wrote on his blog. “Facebook can assist with this sort of thing, as well as having a multi billion user reach. That’s pretty damned important.”
He also noted that outrage among Kickstarter backers angry that they supported Oculus but won’t get to reap the rewards is misplaced – “donating to a Kickstarter gets you whatever reward you’re told when you donate, you don’t get equity, you don’t get to participate in the fruits of a sale of a company” – and he had some choice words about the cancellation of Minecraft for the Oculus Rift as well.
“Notch, your cancelling Minecraft makes you look like a pouty kid who is taking his ball and going home,” he wrote. “It’s a bratty and petty move and it saddens me greatly.”
Name-calling notwithstanding, the post is definitely worth a read; Bleszinksi makes some interesting points about the buyout and the future of VR from his side of the fence. Catch it in full at Clifford Unchained.
