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Minecraft shouldn't be a Clingy Thing, Mojang Says

Minecraft shouldn't ever be a clingy feeling, Mojang says

Mojang continues to monitor the success of other survival games.

Mojang asked me what the future of Minecraft was like before the latest Minecraft 1.19 (opens new tab) update was released. Agnes Larsson, game director, and Nir "Ulraf"Ulraf Vaknin the developer weren't interested in being specific about the next major update. It's no surprise that they're likely to save that for the next Minecraft Live showcase. Instead, we talked about how they're still learning from other crafters and how they're planning to "keep the magic and charm of Minecraft" for another 10 years.

Minecraft's beta launch in 2010 put survival and crafting on the map. There have been a myriad of other games for crafting, many of which are also made with voxels, but Minecraft remains the benchmark for sandbox-based creativity. It's not difficult to Mojang to become smug after wearing the crown long enough, I think that they would become solitary and source ideas only from its own players and developers.

Larsson and Vaknin both insisted they wouldn't call Minecraft superior to all the others. (I would, though. yery It doesn't risk sounding boastful coming from me). However, they do state that knowing what sets Minecraft apart means they can keep it up to date.

Larsson called it intrinsic motivation. Larsson called it intrinsic motivation.

Vaknin agreed with the assertion that Minecraft's success is due to the fact that it requires players to be self-motivated "A number of games are deviating from that because many players are looking for more direction, and that's okay."

Over the years, I've played many survival-based crafting games. I was most recently drawn to Valheim's viking craft, which I enjoyed for several months. I also loved session-based survival in Icarus and V Rising for vampire crafting for a few days. Even Valheim which was my most played game for over 100 hours, and that I helped to lobby to become our game of 2021 (opens in a new window) has not kept me coming back like Minecraft.

Vaknin said that he's kept up with the competition, too. Like me, he was interested in the way that food and hunger work in Valheim. It made me treat food as part of my gear and I was not allowed to ignore food systems or treat all food items as equal-in so many other crafting games, including Minecraft. "I am always thinking about it and pondering about what we can learn from that," he says.

Vaknin stated that V Rising has a very unique goal and boss tracking system. He also mentioned the necessity of tracking down bosses on the map in order to find them. It reminded me of the way you find the End stronghold in Minecraft with the eyes ender.

Vaknin hopes Minecraft won't chase its players even if it learns from Minecraft.

"Minecraft is really not clingy," is how he stated later in our conversation and compared it to a long-time friend who will be there for you no matter the moment you decide to go and return months later.

Vaknin spoke about a typical experience in the Minecraft community: playing a lot for a few many years ago, then returning every year depending on the mood. That's how I've treated it for years myself and I'm happy to see it's a habit that Mojang feels confident cultivating.

"So many games you play can pull you into a bit too much and then you don't want to let it end. It's incredible that Minecraft doesn't do that. It's important to me to keep that."

"One thing that has been added to our guiding principles is: you play Minecraft because you want to, not because you feel pressured to," Larsson added.

As I prepare for Minecraft version 1.20 I am glad to know that the folks in control are confident enough to stay up to date with the latest crafting and survival trends, without having to follow them.