[jasonallen]

Interesting post. A couple of observations:

1. I think programming is a multi-disciplinary task. Notch is obviously among the best at "writing a lot of working code". He's pointing out that he could improve in software design. I've work with many folks who are obviously strong in one area but weaker in others.

2. I think his coding sloppiness comes through in minecraft: it's an incredible game, but I've stopped playing at times due to frustration with crashes and corruption.

...oh, and 3. My guess is that the "large US based game developer" was Valve.

[hythloday]

Just guesswork, but I'd imagine it was EA, who have a subsidiary (DICE) in Stockholm, where Notch lives. Valve (as far as I know) don't have any Scandinavian subsidiaries.