Minecraft Creator Spends $46,300 on Rare Album

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June 25, 2014

An exceedingly rare vinyl copy of Aphex Twin's officially unreleased album Caustic Window was sold on auction site eBay this week for $46,300. The guy who bought it? That was Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson, a longtime fan of the musician.

So I kinda paid a lot for a double LP from the '90s..
— Markus Persson (@notch) June 23, 2014

Rolling Stone writes that Richard James, the man behind Aphex Twin, originally planned to release Caustic Window only to abandon it, but not before four copies were test-pressed. One such copy appeared earlier this year, and a group of fans launched a Kickstarter to raise money to buy and subsequently release the album as part of a one-time deal with James.

The Kickstarter campaign was a success, and copies of Caustic Window were sent to backers earlier this month. As for the auction vinyl copy itself, the $46,300 Persson spent to acquire it will be distributed between James and charity.

Minecraft is a global phenomenon that has sold many millions of copies to date. In a 2013 interview, Persson described the amount of money he's made from the game as a "sh** ton of money."