'Minecraft 2' Announcement Has Fans In An Uproar

"Minecraft" is the best-selling video game in history, and for a good reason. "Minecraft" is basically the perfect sandbox, and thanks to more than a decade of iteration, it's become one of the deepest and most rewarding survival games around (with a movie adaptation on the way). There are plenty of games like "Minecraft" for fans to explore when they get a little burned out punching blocky trees, but almost everyone agrees that "Minecraft" itself is a near-perfect experience. Emphasis on "almost" in that last sentence, because at least one person seems to think there's serious room for improvement in the "Minecraft" formula: Markus "Notch" Persson, the original creator of "Minecraft," surprised everyone when he kicked off 2025 by more or less announcing "Minecraft 2." Notch's announcement is especially shocking because he doesn't have anything to do with Mojang, the developer that works on "Minecraft." He sold the company to Microsoft in 2014 and walked away from the deal with a hefty payday.

In the years since the sale, Notch has arguably become known less as a game developer and more for his controversial statements online. He's voiced support for QAnon and radical conspiracy theories like Pizzagate, and he's also regularly complained about feminism and LGBTQIA+ Pride. By announcing his intention to follow up one of the most life-changing games of all time, Notch has found himself back in the internet's spotlight, but the reactions to his latest project have been all over the map.

On January 1, Notch made a post on X that gave a rough explanation of a new game he has in the works. Notch said it was a project aimed at combining classic roguelike mechanics with a tile-based first-person adventure experience. After laying out that idea, though, Notch said that he had started to wonder if people would be more excited about him making a "Minecraft"-style project. Notch ended his post with a poll, and at the time of this writing, over 80% of the respondents have voted for him to start working on the spiritual sequel.

Honest and legitimate request for feedback for once:

The new game I'm passionately working on is currently set to be a traditional roguelike (i.e. ADOM, nethack, etc) mixed with a tile based first person dungeon crawler (ie Legend of Grimrock (esp 2), Eye of the Beholder)

But...

— notch (@notch) January 1, 2025

In another post, Notch clarified to a commenter, "I basically announced 'Minecraft 2'." He expressed some concerns that this spiritual successor, like many others, could fail to live up to the original, but he also found an opportunity to take a potshot at Microsoft's handling of "Minecraft." Notch wrote, "I also intend to do this in a way that in no way tried to sneakily infringe on the incredible work the Mojang team is doing and that Microsoft is successfully doing the Microsoft sh**tification about." 

Notch didn't say quite how his spiritual successor would be different than the current version of "Minecraft," and since making the somewhat shocking announcement, he hasn't laid out any specifics about the game or what fans should expect in terms of a release timeline. However, fans and detractors alike are running with the news.

There are definitely some people in Notch's replies who are excited about the prospect of him creating an all-new "Minecraft," but the majority of the reactions to his big reveal are full of confusion. For the most part, "Minecraft" players just can't wrap their heads around what a sequel would even look like, nor how Notch could skirt around potential copyright infringement. "Minecraft" has evolved quite a bit in the decade since Notch sold it, and if anything, the game has proven that it's entirely capable of adapting to what new players want to see.

Honestly I don't even know what a minecraft 2 would be. What does minecraft need that can't just be added to the game?

— NHB_Ravics (@RavicsG) January 4, 2025

Others are coming out swinging, accusing Notch of making a cash grab with the "Minecraft" sequel. That might be a hard accusation to dodge when Notch himself mentioned the potential profitability of the sequel in both of his announcement posts.

Seriously, why do we need a Minecraft 2 when the first one's still a sandbox of endless possibilities? Just tweak and expand the original! But hey, if Notch wants to milk the nostalgia cow for some extra cash, who am I to judge? Just hope it doesn't end up as another 'spiritual...

— BobbyLols2 (@BobbyLols2) January 4, 2025

Some people aren't interested in dragging Notch, but they aren't interested in "Minecraft 2" either. In fact, many fans are pointing out that Notch himself seems to have more fresh ideas and genuine excitement for his roguelike project, and they're encouraging him not to derail that apparently in-development game because of an online poll.

re: spiritual successors usually end kind of tragic

you seem more passionate about the traditional roguelike, so pursue that. a game is less likely to be washed up if stimulated by genuine interest rather than extrinsic motivation

+ not even mentioning that it's nearly a given...

— Iggy (@iggydev) January 3, 2025

There are also a growing number of replies — which we won't reprint here — calling out Persson for his politics and past controversial statements, and it's safe to say those gamers aren't exactly enthusiastic about a new game from the dev. Notch himself has already acknowledged that his "Minecraft 2" might never make it to a release, so for now, even the truly curious fans will have to exercise some patience. 

Honestly, I'm not even sure I'll make it to release, based on having been me for all my life.

But I do know I'm genuinely loving having fun working on a game in an office and would love to give it a shot.

— notch (@notch) January 3, 2025