Notch earned $101 million in 2012, Reveals What He Will do with it

[Maver]

The genius part was making it fun and accessible and succesfully marketing it and himself to that many people. Ideas are cheap, execution is the real test.

Dwarf Fortress, Infiniminer and even the post-Minecraft things like Terraria and Fortresscraft were not as successful for many deliberate reasons.

I think you and I both know why dwarf fortress isn't as successful.

 

Notch barely marketed it, if it wasnt for famous let's players or other gaming news shows. It wouldn't of boomed as big as it did.