Minecraft creator Markus Persson has stirred up controversy again with his latest comments about game piracy. The outspoken developer has been making waves for thirteen years with his bold statements on social media. Back in 2012, he actually encouraged fans to pirate his game if they could not afford it. He told them to buy it later when they had money and joked about feeling bad. At a 2011 conference, he argued that piracy was not theft because stealing a car leaves one less car while pirating creates another copy.
The gaming world has been buzzing about the Stop Killing Games campaign that wants to prevent developers from shutting down game servers permanently. Electronic Arts recently announced it would shut down all services for Anthem in January 2026. The petition has gathered nearly 1.3 million signatures from angry gamers. Publishers have already complained that following these rules would be prohibitively expensive. Game companies seem to be threatening even higher prices if the campaign succeeds.
Persson jumped into the debate with a simple statement about game ownership. He pointed out that if buying a game does not count as a real purchase then pirating games cannot be theft. The developer suggested that companies should let players run their servers instead of shutting games down completely. Old games used to allow players to host servers which kept games alive after developers stopped supporting them. Earlier this year Persson asked his followers if they wanted him to create a spiritual successor to Minecraft.
The gaming world has been buzzing about the Stop Killing Games campaign that wants to prevent developers from shutting down game servers permanently. Electronic Arts recently announced it would shut down all services for Anthem in January 2026. The petition has gathered nearly 1.3 million signatures from angry gamers. Publishers have already complained that following these rules would be prohibitively expensive. Game companies seem to be threatening even higher prices if the campaign succeeds.
Persson jumped into the debate with a simple statement about game ownership. He pointed out that if buying a game does not count as a real purchase then pirating games cannot be theft. The developer suggested that companies should let players run their servers instead of shutting games down completely. Old games used to allow players to host servers which kept games alive after developers stopped supporting them. Earlier this year Persson asked his followers if they wanted him to create a spiritual successor to Minecraft.
