Markus Persson Wins BAFTA Special Award

At the GAME British Academy Video Games Awards in 2012, Markus 'Notch' Persson, the creator of Minecraft, was presented with the Special Award by games legend Ian Livingstone. In the video above, he accepts his award on stage, speaks backstage with Johnny Minkley and more.  Check it out!

Additionally, Notch sat down with BAFTA on Twitter for an in-depth Q&A session, where he addressed the community candidly on a variety of topics, ranging from his feelings on the direction of Minecraft, his favorite developers outside of Mojang, and nearly everything in-between.  You can see a full compendium of the Q&A session right here, for all the details.  Definitely worth a read!

Still want more?  We've got it!  Notch also had a nice, solid interview with BAFTA directly, which you can read in its entirety here.  They discuss his inspirations, work history, his advice to aspiring game makers, and much more.

On March 5th, BAFTA announced that Markus "Notch" Persson would be the recipient of the prestigious BAFTA special award:

Notch said:

Proving that there is a place on BAFTA's list for games that defy the hype and fanfare of the big-name publishers and blockbuster sequels, Minecraft held its own against such triple-A titles as Call of Duty: MW3, Battlefield 3, Portal 2 and Skyrim, just to name a few.  BAFTA called Minecraft a "...bizarrely repetitive and perilously addictive [game]...offering very unique gameplay, challenging players in ways that no other game does, or possibly would ever consider trying!"

All that said, Notch still has more to come; Notch has an upcoming Team Fortress 2 tournament - where he will be participating with other developers and players - for the Child's Play charity!  Child's Play is a charity dedicated to improving the lives of children in hospitals around the world with games and toys, through the kindness and generosity of the video industry and the power of play.  Every year, they hold a charity drive which sees ever-increasing amounts of donations, reflecting a spirit and unity in the gaming industry as a whole, from publishers and developers to players everywhere.

Notch's match will be a "Mix Up Match", where online celebrities and regular players are teamed up against each other (9 versus 9).  Want to have a shot at playing with Notch?  There's still time - head over here and donate, and you just might end up taking Notch on directly - the more you donate, the greater your chances of playing with the indie legend.  The match is tentatively set for Spring, although no specific date is available just yet.