Markus “Notch” Persson, the creator of Minecraft, has hinted at a potential spiritual successor to the iconic sandbox game. Notch began working on Minecraft back in 2009 and the game quickly became popular even in its Alpha stage. Later on, Microsoft acquired Mojang and the Minecraft IP for $2 billion.
In a series of posts on X, Notch engaged with his followers, asking them to choose between two potential projects for him to focus on in 2025: a classic roguelike with a “tile-based first-person dungeon crawler” twist or a spiritual successor to Minecraft. While he initially championed the roguelike concept, describing it as a blend of Stardew Valley and dungeon crawling, the overwhelming response from his followers swayed him towards the Minecraft successor. With nearly 80% of the quarter-million votes favouring a new Minecraft-like experience, Notch seems to have embraced the idea.
In a follow-up post, he playfully declared that he had “basically announced Minecraft 2”, expressing his enthusiasm for returning to game development and acknowledging the demand for a game similar to his original masterpiece.
Notch clarified that no non-compete clause prevents him from creating a Minecraft-like game, although he acknowledged that using the “Minecraft” name would be legally problematic. He intends to create a new, original game with similar gameplay mechanics and a different title, referring to it as a “spiritual successor”. He also emphasised his respect for Mojang Studios and Microsoft, the current stewards of the Minecraft franchise, and assured his followers that he would not infringe on their work. He expressed his desire to create a game that honours the spirit of Minecraft while forging its own unique identity.
KitGuru says: Are you a fan of Minecraft? Would you prefer a roguelike made by Notch or the spiritual successor to Minecraft?