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Londonderry's 21-year-old Minecraft Mogul Londonderry's 21-year-old Minecraft mogul Owen Thomas Owen Thomas BBC News NI 11 June 2018 In just three years, the 21-year-old Londonderry man has gone from putting shelves up at a supermarket to building a bustling brick-by-brick gaming business. Jonathan Black was working in Long's supermarket as a stock rotation worker when he began his Minecraft business. Blockception was created by him while studying for his A-levels 2015 This allows you to download and use virtual Lego sets however you like. In 2017 Microsoft selected Blockception as a partner and gamers can now use their marketplace to download pre-made designs that they can then explore, edit and play within. 'Drive' He explained that he is the son of self-employed parents, and has always felt the need to earn a living for himself. "It's just the environment that I was raised in, where I was surrounded by business owners and entrepreneurs, so I guess it's in my blood." Minecraft is a sandbox-based videogame that lets players build 3D worlds using a variety of cubes. Other activities include resource gathering, combat and exploration. Jonathan quickly realized that he did not want to be a part of any company else. With the pressure of managing A-Levels and Long's work it became apparent that he was required to leave to focus on Blockception. "I made more money through Minecraft than I was in the past few weeks at work, I wanted to move on and do something different," he said. "It was far more exciting to earn money, and I was doing it through what was essentially my passion." However, while Jonathan said making a full-time career from his favorite pastime was "like winning the lottery" however, his relationship with the game is now a little more difficult. He said: "Being able to make an income that is 100% from something you love is fantastic but it's not an activity anymore, so you're sacrificing one of your favourite pastimes. "I would have played Minecraft several years ago in my spare time, but it's much more difficult to enjoy it when it's your job." Partnership with Microsoft Before Microsoft expressed interest in the business, it was supported by local projects like CultureTECH, but the job offers were not flooding in. Jonathan said that "If Microsoft had not gotten involved in the first place, we would have thought about other options for long-term business plans. "We agreed to hand over to a different company for a week before Microsoft approached our company. "Just one day before the handover, we got the email and everything kicked off. "We were so close to getting away from Minecraft it's almost unimaginable now." Lost Civilisation Lost Civilisation was released as a free download by Microsoft as part of a 12 day Christmas campaign. It was the map that sparked the company's success. It has been downloaded more than a million times. "It's an unfathomable number to comprehend, and I'm trying to understand it in stadiums, for instance, if you think of a fully capacity Wembley Arena, it's still over ten of those," Jonathan said. "It's mind-boggling numbers, it's overwhelming but it is great and if people love playing our music, then happy days." Is Minecraft a viable career option? Blockception staff members have a variety of abilities that have enabled them to make money from the video game. From graphic designers, scriptwriters, programmers and voice actors, there are many avenues in which jobs in the creative field can lead to long-term work in Minecraft. Jonathan added: "As we expand, there'll be more jobs here, but there is a lot of competition in the gaming industry. "The last few decades have seen an increase in entry-level positions however, we'd played Minecraft for a while, I started playing when I was 14. Minecraft "We've had a long time to gain knowledge from a consumer point of view and we've now gone full circle, from players to providers." Jonathan believes that Minecraft is a trend that is long-lasting, despite the difficulties Blockception had to face in its early days. He added, "I have great confidence that the product is in good hands."
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