Minecraft (franchise)

''Minecraft'' is a media franchise developed from and centered around the video game of the same name. Developed by Mojang Studios (formerly known as Mojang AB) and Xbox Game Studios, which are owned by Microsoft Corporation, The franchise consists of five video games, along with various books, merchandise, events, board games, and a theatrical film. Microsoft acquired Mojang AB in 2014, alongside the ''Minecraft'' game and its editions.

''Minecraft''

''Minecraft'' is a 3D survival sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios and owned by Microsoft, spanning multiple platforms. It was first released by the independent video game designer Markus Persson in 2009, before giving the development to Jens Bergensten in 2011 after the game's full 1.0 update. The game has no specific goals to accomplish, allowing players a large amount of freedom in choosing how to play the game. Gameplay is in the first-person perspective, with the core gameplay modes being survival, in which players must acquire resources to build the world and maintain health (optionally with a "hardcore" limit, which deletes the world after the player dies); and creative, in which players have unlimited resources, no hunger and are able to fly. The game world is composed of voxels—cubes, commonly called "blocks"—representing various materials, such as dirt, stone, ores, tree trunks, water, and lava, which are arranged in a 3-dimensional grid. Gameplay revolves around picking up and placing these objects as the player pleases, while being able to move freely around the world.

Spin-off games

''Minecraft: Story Mode''

''Minecraft: Story Mode'', an episodic spin-off game developed by Telltale Games in collaboration with Mojang, was announced in December 2014. Consisting of five episodes plus three additional downloadable episodes, the standalone game is a narrative and player choice-driven, and it was released on Windows, OS X, iOS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One via download on 13 October 2015. A physical disc that grants access to all episodes was released for the aforementioned four consoles on 27 October. Wii U and Nintendo Switch versions were available in 2017. From late 2018 to 5 December 2022, it was only available on Netflix, where only the first five episodes were available. The first trailer for the game was shown at Minecon on 4 July 2015, revealing some of the game's features. In ''Minecraft: Story Mode'', players control Jesse (voiced by Patton Oswalt and Catherine Taber), who sets out on a journey with his or her friends to find The Order of the Stone—four adventurers who slayed an Ender Dragon—in order to save their world. Brian Posehn, Ashley Johnson, Scott Porter, Martha Plimpton, Dave Fennoy, Corey Feldman, Billy West and Paul Reubens portray the rest of the cast.

''Minecraft: Story Mode - Season 2''

The second season was released from July to December 2017. It continued the story from the first season, with the player's choices affecting elements within ''Season Two''. Patton Oswalt, Catherine Taber, Ashley Johnson, and Scott Porter were confirmed to continue voicework for the new season. The game supports the new Crowd Play feature that Telltale introduced in '' Batman: The Telltale Series'', allowing up to 2,000 audience members to vote on decisions for the player using Twitch or other streaming services. It was shut down along with the original ''Minecraft: Story Mode'', on 25 June 2019.

''Minecraft Earth''

''Minecraft Earth'' was an augmented reality sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios and published by Xbox Game Studios. A spin-off of the video game ''Minecraft'', it was first announced in May 2019, and was available on Android, iOS, and iPadOS. The game allowed players to interact with the world and build Minecraft-style structures and objects that will persist and can be modified by other players. The game implemented the resource-gathering and many of the other features of the original game in an augmented-reality setting. The game had a beta release in July 2019. The game was free-to-play, and was released in early access in October 2019. The game was shut down on 30 June 2021, and players who made in-game purchases on the app received a free copy of the Bedrock Edition.

''Minecraft Dungeons''

''Minecraft Dungeons'' is a dungeon crawler video game developed by Mojang Studios and Double Eleven. It was published by Xbox Game Studios. It is a spin-off of ''Minecraft'' and was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on 26 May 2020. The game received mixed reviews; many deemed the game fun and charming, with praise for its visuals and music. However, its simple gameplay and use of procedural generation received a more mixed reception, with its short story and lack of depth criticized.
It is a hack and slash-styled dungeon crawler, rendered from an isometric perspective. Players explore procedurally generated and hand crafted dungeons filled with new variants of existing ''Minecraft'' monsters and also deal with traps, puzzles, bosses and finding treasure.

''Minecraft Dungeons Arcade''

In early 2021, Mojang announced an arcade adaptation version of ''Minecraft Dungeons'' associated with collectible cards.

''Minecraft Legends''

''Minecraft Legends'' is an action-strategy game developed by Mojang Studios and Blackbird Interactive, announced on 12 June 2022 and released on 18 April 2023. It stopped receiving updates on January 10, 2024.

Film

In 2012, Mojang received offers from Hollywood producers who wanted to produce ''Minecraft''-related TV shows; however, Mojang stated they would only engage in such projects when "the right idea comes along". In February 2014, Persson revealed that Mojang was in talks with Warner Bros. Pictures to develop an official ''Minecraft'' film to be produced by Roy Lee and Jill Messick. In October 2014, Mojang COO Vu Bui stated that the movie was "in its early days of development", saying that it was a "large-budget" production, and also said that it might not be released until 2018. That same month, Warner Bros. hired Shawn Levy to direct the film, while in December, it was confirmed that Levy and writers Kieran and Michele Mulroney, who were developing the film together had left the project.

In July 2015, it was announced that Warner Bros. had hired Rob McElhenney to direct the film. According to McElhenney, he had been drawn to the film based on the open-world nature of the game, an idea Warner Bros. had initially agreed with and for which they had provided him with a preliminary US$150 million budget. In 2016, early production started on the film, including in June assigning a release date of 24 May 2019, in October setting Jason Fuchs to write the script, and in November contracting Steve Carell to star as the voice of an unknown character. McElhenney's ''Minecraft'' film "slowly died on the vine," and due to scheduling conflicts, he left the film in August 2018, Aaron and Adam Nee were tapped to rewrite the script, and the film was delayed as a result. No new director was announced at that time.

In January 2019, Peter Sollett was announced to write and direct the film, featuring an entirely different story from McElhenney's version. Messick, who died in 2018, will be posthumously credited as producer. In April 2019, Warner Bros. scheduled the new film to be released in theaters on 4 March 2022. In June 2019, Allison Schroeder was hired to write the script and co-write the film with Sollett. In October 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted Warner Bros. to adjust its release schedule, including removing the ''Minecraft'' film from its planned release date.

Sollett instead directed ''Metal Lords'', which was released exclusively on Netflix in April 2022. That same month, production on the ''Minecraft'' film was announced to be moving forward without Sollett and Schroeder, now with Jared Hess set to direct and Jason Momoa in early talks to star. The film was also confirmed to be live action. Some sources also said that Chris Bowman and Hubbel Palmer would rewrite the script. In early April 2023, it was reported that the film would release on 4 April 2025. In May, Matt Berry entered negotiations to join the cast. On 19 June 2023, it was reported that principal photography on the film would start on 7 August in New Zealand, before filming was delayed in July due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Following the conclusion of the strike in early November 2023, filming was reported to be aiming for an early 2024 start. Later that month, Danielle Brooks and Sebastian Eugene Hansen joined the cast as Dawn and Henry, respectively, and filming was scheduled to begin in late December 2023. In early December, Emma Myers also joined the cast. In early January 2024, Jack Black was cast as Steve, teasing his casting in the film via his official Instagram account. The film's first teaser trailer was released on September 4, 2024 to a mixed response from audiences.

Animated series

In May 2024, during the fifteenth anniversary of the first ''Minecraft'' version, it was announced that an animated series based on the video game franchise was being produced by WildBrain as well as Mojang. The series is being described as " eaturingan original story with new characters, showing the world of ''Minecraft'' in a new light." The series is set to be released on Netflix on an unknown date.

Books

Official novels

The game has inspired several officially licensed novels set in the ''Minecraft'' universe:
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Other books

* ''Minecraft: The Unlikely Tale of Markus "Notch" Persson and the Game That Changed Everything'' is a book written by Daniel Goldberg and Linus Larsson (and translated by Jennifer Hawkins) about the story of Minecraft and its creator, Markus "Notch" Persson. The book was released on 17 October 2013.
* A graphic novel set in the ''Minecraft'' franchise, '' Trayaurus and the Enchanted Crystal'', was published by YouTuber DanTDM in October 2016, reaching the first spot on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list for hardcover graphic books and remaining there for eleven consecutive weeks.
* '' Gameknight999'' is a series of six trilogies about a protagonist who is transported into the digital ''Minecraft'' world and experiences harrowing adventures involving the antagonist Herobrine. The first trilogy was listed in the ''New York Times'' top 10 bestsellers in February 2015.
* '' Minecraft: The Manga'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuyoshi Seto. It was serialized in April 2020. By October 2023, it has sold over 500,000 copies in Japan. As of October 2024, the series has release 10 volumes.

Tabletop games

Three tabletop games have been produced as official tie-in games for ''Minecraft''. The first two are both card games, namely ''Minecraft Card Game?'', produced by Mattel in 2015, and ''Uno Minecraft'', produced by Mattel in 2016.

Towards the end of 2019, ''Minecraft: Builders & Biomes'', a board game version of ''Minecraft'', was announced. The game was geared towards the family market, catered for 2–4 players, and was published by Ravensburger. Players explore the Overworld, build structures, and mine resources in a quest to score the most points. At the end of 2020, an expansion for the tabletop game was released, titled ''Minecraft: Farmer's Market Expansion'', which introduced a new farm biome that enabled players to produce vegetables.

Merchandise

Lego ''Minecraft''

The first Lego set based on ''Minecraft'' was released on 6 June 2012. The set, called "Micro World", centres around a microscale representation of a forest from the game and includes Lego versions of the game's default player character and a creeper. Mojang submitted the concept of ''Minecraft'' merchandise to Lego in December 2011 for the Lego Cuusoo program, from which it quickly received 10,000 votes by users, prompting Lego to review the concept. Lego Cuusoo approved the concept in January 2012 and began developing sets based on ''Minecraft''. Two more sets based on the Nether and village areas of the game were released on 1 September 2013. A fourth Micro World set, the End, was released in June 2014. Six more, larger Lego minifigure scale, sets became available November 2014, with more released every year since.

Other merchandise

Mojang often collaborates with Jinx, an online game merchandise store, to sell ''Minecraft'' merchandise, such as clothing, foam pickaxes, and toys of creatures in the game. By May 2012, over 1 million dollars were made from ''Minecraft'' merchandise sales. T-shirts and socks were the most popular products. In March 2013, Mojang signed a deal with the Egmont Group, a children's book publisher, to create ''Minecraft'' handbooks, annuals, poster books, and magazines. Amiibo figurines of the characters Steve and Alex were released in September 2022, and are compatible with the video game ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''. In 2021 the Australia Post created a ''Minecraft''-themed postage stamp pack. In late 2024, Australian dairy company Norco released a range of flavoured milks as part of a shared goal of "building a better world". Minecraft content is scheduled to be released for '' Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds'' as part of its DLC season pass.

Events

Minecon

Minecon (stylized as "MineCon" or "MINECON") is an official convention dedicated to ''Minecraft''. The first one was held in November 2011 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. All 4,500 tickets for MineCon 2011 were sold out by 31 October. The event included the official launch of ''Minecraft''; keynote speeches, including one by Persson; building and costume contests; ''Minecraft''-themed breakout classes; exhibits by leading gaming and ''Minecraft''-related companies; commemorative merchandise; and autograph and picture times with Mojang employees and well-known contributors from the ''Minecraft'' community. After MineCon, there was an ''Into The Nether'' after-party with deadmau5. Free codes were given to every attendee of MineCon that unlocked alpha versions of Mojang's ''Scrolls'', as well as an additional non-Mojang game, ''Cobalt'', developed by Oxeye Game Studios. Similar events occurred in MineCon 2012, which took place in Disneyland Paris in November. The tickets for the 2012 event sold out in less than two hours. MineCon 2013 was held in Orlando in November. MineCon 2015 was held in London in July. MineCon 2016 was held in Anaheim in September. MineCon 2017 was held as a livestream instead of being held at a show floor. Titled "MINECON Earth", it was streamed live in November.

''MineCon Earth 2018'' followed the same format as the 2017 event, but was renamed in 2019 to "MINECON Live" to avoid confusion with Mojang's augmented-reality game, ''Minecraft Earth''.

''Minecraft Festival''

In ''MineCon Live 2019'', Mojang announced ''Minecraft Festival'', an in-person event to be held 25–27 September 2020, in Orlando, Florida. The event has since been delayed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Minecraft Live

On 3 September 2020, it was announced by Mojang that a new livestreamed event would be taking place to replace the postponed '' Minecraft Festival''. It took place on 3 October 2020, showing the features of ''Minecraft''s "Caves and Cliffs" update. The second Minecraft Live took place on 16 October 2021 and showcased more of the Caves and Cliffs part 2 update, along with announcing and showing of features for the Wild Update. The third Minecraft Live took place on 15 October 2022 and announced more of the features in the Wild Update and the (at the time) unnamed next update.

Notable achievements

The ''Minecraft franchise'' covers a wide range of content. In late 2021, videos of ''Minecraft'' hit 1 trillion views on YouTube. The video game ''Minecraft'' is the best-selling video game of all time, surpassing ''Tetris'' and ''Grand Theft Auto V'' with over 300,000,000 copies sold.

Notes

References

{{Xbox Game Studios

Microsoft franchises
Video game franchises introduced in 2011
Markus Persson