Gaming mogul Markus Persson, famous for international hit Minecraft, has penned a heartfelt open letter to his fans explaining why he is selling his stake in the game.

He simply cannot handle the pressure.

In a blog post published on Monday under his pseudonym ‘Notch’, the Swedish game developer says he never meant for the game to become such a runaway hit.

“I’ve become a symbol. I don’t want to be a symbol, responsible for something huge that I don’t understand, that I don’t want to work on, that keeps coming back to me.

“I’m not an entrepreneur. I’m not a CEO. I’m a nerdy computer programmer who likes to have opinions on Twitter,” Mr Persson says.

Microsoft announced on Monday it will buy Mojang AB, the company Mr Persson co-founded, for $US2.5 billion – a deal that includes the rights to Minecraft.

The hugely popular game is basically a giant, pixelated version of Lego, with mining, sword fighting and dragons thrown in. It is popular with gamers young and old for its addictive simplicity and capacity for endless hours of creative play.

Mr Persson is adamant he will never again be famous.

“If I ever accidentally make something that seems to gain traction, I’ll probably abandon it immediately.”

Angry backlash from highly emotionally-invested fans is also cited by the game developer as a reason for his exit from the company.

Mr Persson seems to have been mulling over the decision since June, when he tweeted his disgust at fan hatred directed at another game developer, Phil Fish.

Anyone want to buy my share of Mojang so I can move on with my life? Getting hate for trying to do the right thing is not my gig.

— Markus Persson (@notch) June 17, 2014

Mr Persson mentions the incident in his letter, saying the backlash made him realise he did not truly know his fan base.

Some in the gaming community have accused Mr Persson of ‘selling out’ to Microsoft, and have even promised to boycott the game in protest.

“It’s not about the money. It’s about my sanity,” Mr Persson responds.

“Considering the public image of me already is a bit skewed, I don’t expect to get away from negative comments by doing this, but at least now I won’t feel a responsibility to read them.”