I mean, do we actually know that? I haven't heard anything about Notch in years and years, but I just assumed it was because he was hanging out with his friends and family and enjoying his wealth. It's certainly what I'd do in his shoes, but maybe he's said he doesn't enjoy how things out and I was unaware.
(He bought the mansion in 2014: https://www.eurogamer.net/minecraft-creator-notch-just-bough...)
That's a pretty disingenuous take. Here are some examples of his social media:
"If you're against the concept of #HeterosexualPrideDay, you're a complete fucking cunt and deserve to be shot" [0]
He believed in PizzaGate[1][2].
He's tweeted in support of QAnon [3].
There's an easy way to avoid a fall from grace: Don't turn into a right-wing nutjob. Just stay out of politics and social commentary in general.
[0] https://fortune.com/2017/07/02/minecraft-markus-persson-homo...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizzagate_conspiracy_theory
[2] https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/minecraft-creator-pizzagate...
[3] https://www.newsweek.com/minecraft-notch-controversy-twitter...
It does seem crazy to me, given he lived in Sweden, where copyright transfers only economic rights, not moral rights (such as the right to be identified as the creator of a work), but allows the author to waive their moral rights, that he would waive his moral rights.
In any case, he seems pretty miserable, regardless of his twitter outbursts.
For most game developers, getting a credit on a game is not a creative badge of honour, it is sometimes the only hard proof that they worked on a title. It’s part of their portfolio and often essential for their future career and earning potential. This is why they fight so hard for a credit that is essentially free for a company to give.
Everybody knows Notch made Minecraft. He no longer depends on the credit for his future earnings. He chose to give it up.
[1]: https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/credits (ctrl+f "Markus Persson") [2]: https://minecraft.wiki/w/Java_Edition_19w13a#General_2
It was too much pressure at the top, though, and he sold the project to Microsoft and became a billionaire; but what that actually meant is that Microsoft took it over entirely, and he was nothing. He didn't even get the position of "esteemed creative inventor who now only occasionally provides creative direction instead of being responsible for every last thing", that some people get when they sell their projects to faceless behemoths.
He had a further fall from grace in that the public didn't like his stated values on social media, and Microsoft took the opportunity to completely erase him from Minecraft - removed all mention of his name, and he's not invited to anything.
So now he sits alone in his mansion and cries himself to sleep, because while "never work again" money is nice to have, he'd rather have the kudos and recognition of being the creator of a much-loved game. And that's the one thing he can't have any more.