Mojang isn't content to simply make their own games.  No, they've set their sites on the big time, and talked to Edge this week about the efforts they've put forth to publish their first 3rd party title on behalf of Oxeye Game Studio.  Entitled Cobalt, the little robot multiplayer beat 'em up will be the first game to feature the Mojang single login system -- something that looks and sounds like the Battle.net ID system to me.  Maybe they'll call it a Notch.net ID?

Notch has confirmed that Cobalt will go through a similar release schedule as Minecraft, with pre-release alphas pushed out on a regular basis until its done.  Nothing like getting your money up front, eh?  Cobalt should get its first alpha release this Friday, if all goes according to plan.

Now I love me some Mojang, I really do, but part of the charm of the outfit was how nimble they were.  It was a guy, building a game on his own.  Now it's a full-fledged publisher.  What's next, laying off the middle management and moving the operations to India?  I am obviously skeptical about some of the decisions Mojang has made in recent months.  Perhaps this is less a move to become an established publisher and more using their clout to help other indie developers get a foothold in the industry.  Or maybe the word indie shouldn't apply to a game company once they start publishing other people's games.  One thing is for sure:  There's going to be a lot more Mojang in our lives very shortly.  

[via Edge]