Mojang continues to be attentive to the success of other survival games.
Just before the latest Minecraft 1.19 (opens in new tab) update was released I asked Mojang what the future of Minecraft will look like. Game director Agnes Larsson and developer Nir "Ulraf" Vaknin weren't willing to be feature-specific about the next major update-no surprise, they're likely saving this for the next Minecraft Live showcase. Instead, we discussed how they're still learning from other crafters and how they want to "keep the fun of Minecraft" for the next 10 years and beyond.
When Minecraft's alpha launched in 2010, it placed crafting and survival on the map. A thousand other crafting games later-many also made from voxels-Minecraft remains the gold standard for sandbox creativity. It's not difficult to Mojang to get complacent after having worn the crown for long enough, I think that they would become solitary and source ideas only from its own players and developers.
Both Larsson and Vaknin insisted that they wouldn't think of Minecraft to be any different from the other players. (I would, though. It's not a risk to sound boastful from me). However, they do say that they know what makes Minecraft unique and will maintain it.
Larsson said it was intrinsic motivation. Larsson called it intrinsic motivation.
Vaknin agreed that requiring players to be self-motivated is where Minecraft excels: "A lot of games aren't doing this because a lot of players desire to be more oriented and that's fine."
I've tried all blends of crafting games for survival through the years. The most recent one was viking crafting in Valheim which enticed me for a couple of months, sessions-based survival in Icarus for a couple weeks and then vampire crafting in V Rising for a couple days. minecraft server list Even Valheim was my most played game for more than 100 hours, and which I lobbied to become our game in 2021 (opens in new window) has not kept me returning like Minecraft.
Vaknin said that he's been keeping track of the competition as well. Like me, he was interested in the way that food and hunger interact in Valheim. It made me think about how I treated food. In Minecraft, for example I was not allowed to ignore food systems or treat all foods equally. He states, "I spend time thinking about this and wondering if there are any lessons to be learned from it."
"V Rising has an interesting goal and boss tracking system," Vaknin also said, referencing the way that you need to track a boss across the map to find them. "It brought me back to how you find the End stronghold in Minecraft by looking through the eyes of the ender."
While Minecraft learns without necessarily chasing trends, Vaknin hopes it won't ever chase its players .
"Minecraft is really not clingy," is how he put it later in our chat, likening it to an old friend who will be there for you, even the moment you decide to go and come back a few months later.
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Vaknin described a common experience that is common in the Minecraft community: playing heavily for a few years ago and now returning on a yearly basis as the mood strikes. It's a way I have employed for years, and it's one that Mojang is comfortable cultivating.
"So many other games you play and feel like they are trying to pull you a bit too far, and then once you've finished playing, you don't want to come back. I am so happy that Minecraft does not do that. It's so important to me to maintain that."
Larsson said, "One thing we recently added to our core principle is that you play Minecraft because you want to do, not because you feel you have to," Larsson added.
As I prepare for Minecraft version 1.20 I am pleased to hear that the people in control are confident enough to stay up to date with all the latest crafting and survival trends without necessarily following them.
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