Right before the most recent Minecraft 1.19 (opens in new tab) update launched, I asked Mojang what the future of Minecraft looks like. Agnes Larsson, Game Director, and Nir "Ulraf Vaknin (Developer) weren't willing o be feature-specific about next major update.email No surprise, they're probably saving that for the next Minecraft Live presentation. Instead, we talked about how they're still learning from other crafting competitors and how they want to "keep the magic of Minecraft" for another 10 years and more.
Minecraft's beta launched in 2010. It made crafting and survival possible. Although there have been many other crafting games made from voxels, Minecraft is still the best for sandbox creativity. It would be easy enough for Mojang to get complacent after wearing the crown for so long, I imagine, becoming insular and sourcing ideas only from its own developers and players.
Both Larsson and Vaknin insisted that they wouldn't consider Minecraft any better than the rest. (I would, though. It's not boastful from me, but it does not risk sounding boastful. But they do say that knowing what sets Minecraft apart means they can maintain it.
Larsson called this intrinsic motivation. Larsson said that it was important to inspire and allow players to be creative in their own ways. "But never dictate, never force anything."
Vaknin agreed that Minecraft excels at asking players to be self motivated: "A lot more games are veering off that because a lot players really want to have more control, and that is fine."
I've tried many survival crafting games over the years. Most recently it's been viking crafting in Valheim that enticed me for a couple months, session-based survival in Icarus for a couple weeks, and vampire crafting in V Rising for a couple days. Even Valheim which I enjoyed for over 100hrs and helped lobby to be named our game-of-the-year in 2021 has not kept me coming back as much as Minecraft.
Vaknin said that he keeps up with the competition. He was also interested, like me, in the way food and hunger work in Valheim. It taught me to treat food as part my gear. I didn't feel allowed to skip food systems, or treat all food equally in other crafting games like Minecraft. He says that he spends time thinking about it, and trying to find out what we can learn.
"V Rising has a very 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 reminded me of how you find the End stronghold in Minecraft with the eyes of ender."
While Minecraft learns without necessarily chasing trends, Vaknin hopes it won't ever chase its players either.
"Minecraft is not clingy," was how he said it later in our chat. He likened it to a friend who will always be there for you, even if you decide to leave and come back months later.
Vaknin described a common experience in the Minecraft community: playing heavily for a period of time years ago and now returning on a yearly basis as the mood strikes. That's how I've treated it for years myself, and I'm glad it's a pattern that Mojang feels confident cultivating.
"So many other games you play and feel like they try to pull you a bit too much and then when it's run its course you don't want to come back. It's amazing that Minecraft doesnt do that.
