Minecraft Creator: Windows 8 Could be Very, Very Bad for Indie Devs

August 1, 2012 by Alex Co

Markus "Notch" Persson, creator of Minecraft, thinks Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 OS could be bad for indie developers.

Minecraft creator and Mojang boss Markus "Notch" Persson is not a big fan of Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 OS.

In "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) session on Reddit, Notch states that if Microsoft makes Windows 8 much "closer" than its previous OS', then this could be very bad for indie developers.

If Microsoft decides to lock down Windows 8, it would be very, very bad for Indie games and competition in general…If we can keep open platforms around, there's going to be a lot of very interesting games in ten years, mixed in with the huge AAA games that we all love.

Speaking of open platforms, Notch thinks the future's bright for indie developers as long as there are "open" and "free" platforms to support their work.

While Windows 8 being a closed platform has not been confirmed by Microsoft, it's widely believed that it will be a more closed OS compared to any of its previous releases.

Does this concern you at all? Do you think Microsoft would risk alienating indie devs in making Windows 8 a closed platform?

Source: GamesIndustry