Notch Won't Certify Minecraft for Windows 8

Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson refused to "certify" the popular PC game for Windows 8.

While Microsoft is corralling college students to help fill its new Windows Store app marketplace, numerous developers are sticking to their guns and refusing change. Microsoft sees Windows 8 as the launch of a new era, but many developers, consumers and critics like things just the way they are.

Even more, there's an industry-wide fear that Microsoft may lean more towards a closed platform thanks to the desktop marketplace, that it will be managed like Xbox Live. Valve Software, id Software and Blizzard have openly revealed their distaste for the blocky OS and its built-in storefront, and now Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson has dished out his own two cents, speaking directly to the Redmond company.

"Got an email from Microsoft, wanting to help 'certify' Minecraft for Win 8," Persson tweeted. "I told them to stop trying to ruin the PC as an open platform." Ouch. He goes on to admit on Twitter that he'd "rather have Minecraft not run on Win 8 at all than to play along."

"Maybe we can convince a few people not to switch to win 8 that way.. " he added.

As pointed out by Shacknews, this doesn't mean Minecraft won't be available for Windows 8. It only means that Notch won't have anything to do with it heading over to the new OS. Remember that Dundee, Scotland-based 4J Studios handled the Xbox Live Arcade version that was released on the console's closed network back in May.

Valve Software's Gabe Newell has been one of the more vocal game developers in the industry in regards to Windows 8. He recently called it a "catastrophe for everybody in the PC space," that it will offer features like the built-in store and Xbox Live integration. This storefront is viewed as a threat to Valve given that it offers Windows-based games on Steam.

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