outside the box
Where on Earth does the biggest game on the planet go next? Minecraft has earned that lofty title time and time again: becoming an overnight sensation upon its release in 2011, scooped up by Microsoft for a cool $2.5 billion in 2014, and most recently, likely surpassing Tetris as the bestselling game of all time. It’s played across 20 different platforms, and an Education Edition of the game is even used in schools worldwide. 176 million copies have been sold to date – and the numbers seem destined to climb higher, now that the world’s most famous YouTuber has become so enamoured with the game that he’s dedicated his 100-million-follower channel wholly to it.
Minecraft is currently enjoying yet another resurgence in popularity. But it’s never not popular. Part of this is down to a team at Mojang that has dedicated the past eight years to updating the game, keeping its community well-fed with new things to discover. But perhaps the more crucial part is that, at its very core, Minecraft is a simple concept with limitless possibility: a living Lego set that allows you to build whatever kind of world, and whatever kind of adventure, you can imagine. Perhaps a better question to ask, then, is does Minecraft really need to go anywhere else?
Business-wise, of course, it makes plenty of sense to squeeze every profitable drop out of one of the biggest entertainment properties in the world. But from a design perspective, too, there’s much to explore. Minecraft Dungeons is set to offer Diablo-esque looting and brawling to a whole new audience. And now there’s Minecraft Earth. At first, it looks like the brainchild of a few Microsoft execs who watched the fuss made of augmented reality monster-catching smartphone spinoff Pokémon Go in the summer of 2016, and saw dollar signs. In the playing, it’s a very different story – and in conversation with the team at Mojang, too, who soon reveal that Minecraft Earth is the culmination of a long-held dream for them. It’s one that, with access to the support and technological developments of Microsoft, Mojang can finally realise. Where does Minecraft go next? It goes everywhere on Earth.
on your phone for the first time, and you may quickly start to wonder what all the fuss is about. Immediately, the blocky overworld recalls Niantic’s, the basic green areas stretching out before us representing the layout of our real-world surroundings. Our avatar follows our movements as we walk along the street. There are a few landmarks dotted’s Pokéstops, you must walk within range of them to interact. When you’re close enough, you can collect resources by poking at the object on screen (which then rustles, creaks or moos rather disconcertedly).
