Londonderry's 21-year-old Minecraft Mogul

Londonderry's 21-year-old Minecraft mogul By Owen Thomas BBC News NI

11 June 2018

A 21-year-old from Londonderry has gone from stacking shelves in a supermarket to constructing an enviable gaming business brick-by-brick, in the space of just three years.

Jonathan Black was working in Long's supermarket as a stock turner when he started his Minecraft business.

While he was studying for his A-levels in 2015 the student created Blockception, making virtual Lego sets that you can download and play with however you want.

In 2017 Microsoft has chosen Blockception as a partner and gamers can now utilize their marketplace to download the pre-made designs that they can then explore, edit and play within.

'Drive'

He said that he was a descendant of self-employed parents and had always felt the need to earn a living for himself.

"It's simply the environment I was raised in, being surrounded by entrepreneurs and business owners, so I guess it's in my blood."

Minecraft is is known as a sandbox-style video game and allows players to build using a variety of different cubes in a 3-dimensional world.

Other activities include resource collection, combat and exploration.

Jonathan quickly realized the reasons why he didn't want to be someone else's employee and, as he was under the stress of balancing A-Levels with work at Long's, it became evident he needed to quit and focus on Blockception.

"I was earning more money from Minecraft than I did during several weeks at work, so I wanted to move on and do something different," he said.

"It was a more exciting method of earning money and I was doing it as an interest."

Jonathan said that making a career out of his passion was like winning the lottery, but his connection with the game is more complicated.

He said: "Being able to make an income that is 100% from something you love is fantastic but it's not an obsession anymore which means you're giving up one of your favorite pastimes.

"I would have played Minecraft in my spare time years ago but it's much more difficult to play when it becomes your job."

Partnership with Microsoft

Before Microsoft showed interest the business was supported by local projects such as CultureTECH however, job opportunities were not flooding into.

Jonathan said: "If Microsoft hadn't got involved, we might have had to consider alternatives in terms of a long-term business plan.
Multiplayer servers

"A week prior to when Microsoft approached us we agreed to hand over the business to another company.

"Just one day before the handover the email was sent, and everything began.

"We were so close to getting away from Minecraft - it seems unthinkable now."

Lost Civilisation

Lost Civilisation was released as an unpaid download by Microsoft as part of a 12-day Christmas promotion. It was the map that sparked the company's success.

It has been downloaded more than 1 million times.

Jonathan stated, "It's an incomprehensible number and I'm trying to comprehend it in stadiums, for example the capacity of a full-time Wembley Arena is still more than 10."

"It's staggering numbers, it's overwhelming however, it's a great thing and if people enjoy playing our stuff Happy days."

Is Minecraft a viable career option?

Blockception staff are skilled in many areas that have allowed them to earn a living through the video game. These include graphic designers as well as scriptwriters, programmers and voice actors. There are many opportunities to work for a long time in Minecraft through work in the creative field.

Jonathan added: "As we expand, there'll be more jobs here However, there's plenty of competition in the gaming industry.

"The last few years have definitely seen an uptake of a many entry-level jobs, but we'd been playing Minecraft for many years, and I began playing it when I was 14.

"We've spent lots of time learning things from a consumer perspective and now we're fully circled, from providers to players."

Jonathan believes that Minecraft is a trend that will last for a long time despite the challenges Blockception had to face in its early days.

He added, "I have great confidence that the product is in good hands."