There's no denying that there was a special kind of fate between Notch, D, and J.
The three of them also strongly believed in fate. After this whole incident, the relationship between Notch, D, and J kept getting better and better.
Although D and J only met later on, because they always heard Notch talk about the other person, each of them knew a lot about the other.
The way they interacted didn't feel like they'd only just met, more like they'd already known each other for many years.
The reason the three of them could become so close was naturally because their interests aligned.
Notch, D, and J were all passionate game lovers. As the saying goes, "Read ten thousand books and your writing will be guided by the gods." This saying applies in any field, and the gaming world is no exception.
The three of them had played countless games, and after experiencing so many, they naturally developed some unique and profound insights.
They often gathered together to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of different games.
Sometimes, they even imagined what kind of game they would create if they were the ones designing one.
However, although D and J also had dreams of game design, most of the time they only stayed in the realm of imagination.
Notch, on the other hand, was a true man of action. He was the first among them to put those ideas into practice.
Among the three, Notch was the earliest to start self-studying game programming. And he was naturally smart, highly talented, and achieved remarkable results through self-study.
Before he created Minecraft, the world-famous game, Notch had tried developing some small games. Although those small games didn't cause any big sensation, they still attracted a loyal group of players.
Because of that, Notch earned some money.
D and J had both played the games Notch designed. Those games weren't big productions, what people liked about them were the clever ideas behind them.
And many of those ideas were things the three of them had discussed before.
After playing Notch's games and seeing his accomplishments, both D and J were moved.
They never expected that Notch, who became skilled purely through self-study, could actually make money in the gaming industry.
Even though they loved games and had discussed game design before, they had never really considered becoming programmers.
Back then, they thought programmers required professional training and all kinds of formal courses before they could officially work.
And professional training and specialized courses cost money.
D and J came from pretty average families. Their families definitely wouldn't pay for them to learn such things.
And in that era, any job related to games would more or less be considered unserious or unreliable.
So even though they were interested in the profession, they never took action.
After seeing Notch self-study, they were tempted.
But Notch's family background was better than D and J's. In D and J's eyes, Notch had the ability to afford mistakes, but they didn't.
So in the end, they decided to wait and see Notch's results first.
When Notch's achievements were right in front of them, both D and J finally decided to take action.
As the saying goes, "Those who are alike gather together." Since D and J could get along so well with Notch, they naturally weren't lacking either.
D and J spent a year self-studying and finally achieved results.
And during that same year, Notch designed Minecraft.
Since D and J had to work part-time while studying that year, they didn't participate much in the production of Minecraft.
After Notch finished designing the game, he called D and J over, wanting them to help him make the game together.
Of course, Notch wouldn't let his brothers work for free. He wasn't asking D and J to help him for nothing, he wanted them to invest in the game.
Once D and J heard Notch's idea, both refused.
By that time, they were no longer naïve kids. They understood the principle that even between brothers, accounts should be clear.
They knew Notch asked them to invest because he valued their friendship.
But precisely because they also valued their bond with Notch, they couldn't accept the investment offer.
Minecraft was Notch's creation, made by his own hands. It was his personal work. D and J hadn't contributed, so they certainly weren't shameless enough to take a share of Notch's profits.
Besides, D and J had already completed their studies. They wanted to make their own games and earn money from their own creations.
After rejecting Notch many times, Notch couldn't win against them and finally gave up on getting them to invest.
Later, Notch suggested that D and J help him with Minecraft as technical staff.
Now that D and J had finished their studies, they really needed a real project to practice on, so they agreed.
Technically speaking, even though D and J had learned the skills, they were still beginners.
Since they had no work experience, if they applied for jobs, they would only get entry-level positions with the lowest salary.
But Notch stuck to his principle of never letting his brothers suffer losses. Even though he wasn't rich at the time, he still paid D and J a senior-programmer-level salary.
Notch really knew how to treat people, he not only gave his brothers a chance to practice but also paid them well.
D and J saw all of this, and they were grateful.
So they worked especially hard and soon completed the production of Minecraft.
After the game was finished, Notch didn't rush to start internal testing.
Instead, he first sent a sample to Brother Jiang.
Brother Jiang studied game programming abroad. He had professional training, so his judgment of games was sharp.
He could tell at a glance which games had potential and which ones could become hits.
After playing for a while, Brother Jiang keenly sensed the potential of Minecraft.
That period was right when game headsets were rising in popularity. Brother Jiang knew very well that soon, ordinary-mode games would be completely replaced by holographic-mode games.
So he suggested that Notch send the game sample to major game companies to test the waters. Maybe they could strike it rich in one go.
In the gaming field, Brother Jiang was like a senior. And because he had formal training, Notch naturally trusted him.
So he sent Minecraft's sample to major companies.
The result was that ZeroPoint Company noticed it and wanted to buy Minecraft for 3 million.
Three million at the time was definitely not a small amount, but Notch still refused ZeroPoint.
After all, ZeroPoint wanted to buy out the rights to Minecraft completely.
Brother Jiang had also said that once the game launched, its value would be far more than 3 million.
So with Brother Jiang's financial help, Notch began producing a holographic version of Minecraft on his own.