What would you do if you had US$2.5 billion? Most of us would likely retire permanently, enjoy life, and stop working. But not for Notch, the creator of Minecraft, who sold the IP to Microsoft for that amount back in 2014, who is making his return to the gaming industry.
In a post on X/Twitter, Notch officially announced that he was working on a new project, but was undecided between going the “traditional roguelike” route like ADOM crossed with a mix of “tile based first person dungeon crawler” or actually creating a successor to Minecraft.
However, in subsequent posts, he officially confirmed that the latter plan is the way to go.
“I don’t super duper care exactly which game I make first, but I do know I’m making one, so I figured I’d absolutely be willing to give it an honest shot in the form of a spiritual successor to Minecraft and put up a poll about it.” Notch said. “Oh and I also very much value being a man of my word, so 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.”
The growth of Minecraft as an IP has been astounding to see. What first began as an creative experience back in 2009 soon began transforming into a gaming juggernaut, with spinoffs in other genres as well as an upcoming movie that is set to grace the big screens in April. There are also theme parks being planned based on the IP, so the entire Minecraft property has plenty of longevity. Notch is also happy to return to work on the IP under its current owners, but only if certain conditions are met.
For now, there is no other information about the game, the gameplay, or even a release window for this project, but at the very least, we will have something to look forward to from someone who has had a major role in the gaming industry for more than a decade.
