Mojang

Mojang Studios was founded by the independent video game designer Markus Persson in 2009 as Mojang Specifications for Minecraft's development. The studio inherited its name from another video game venture Persson had left two years prior. Following the game's initial release, Persson, in conjunction with Jakob Porsér, incorporated the business in late 2010, and they hired Carl Manneh as the company's chief executive officer. Other early hires included Daniel Kaplan and Jens Bergensten. Minecraft became highly successful, giving Mojang sustained growth. With a desire to move on from the game, Persson offered to sell his share in Mojang, and the company was acquired by Microsoft for its Microsoft Studios (later Xbox Game Studios) unit in November 2014. Persson, Porsér, and Manneh subsequently left Mojang. The company was rebranded as Mojang Studios in May 2020 and changed to reporting to Microsoft's Xbox division in July 2026.