Markus "Notch" Persson has stepped down as the lead developer on Minecraft, according to a post on his Tumblr. Though he will still be involved in the game, Jens Bergensten, a developer for the game, will move into the role of lead developer as Persson goes to work on a "new project" with his development studio Mojang.

Persson notes that he and Bergensten have been working on Minecraft together for over a year. Minecraft 1.0 was finally released two weeks ago on November 18 during MineCon, creating a juncture that has apparently allowed Persson to feel comfortable scaling back his role with the game.

Persson will still be a developer for Minecraft, though he notes that he will "now rest for a while" following the leadership transition to Berngensten. When he returns, he will be starting work on a new project, the details of which he does not disclose.

Minecraft has a player base about four million strong, and they've been doing bigger things than ever with the game, including recreations from pop culture touchstones like Legend of Zelda, Star Wars, and Super Mario. May Bergensten enjoy a long and healthy reign.