Summary
Minecraft Legendsis ending development with the Snow vs Snouts update this month. This final content drop comes less than a year afterMinecraft Legends' April 2023 release.
On January 10, Mojang announced thatMinecraft Legendswill be ending development. The announcement can be found on its site’s news page, stating that the team will be taking ‘a step back from development’ and that Mojang ‘won’t be releasing any new content’. This comes about nine months after the title’s release, falling far behind fellow spin-offMinecraft Dungeons—which saw new content updates for over three years from May 2020 to September 2023.
Why Minecraft Legends Is Ending Development After Just Nine Months
Thewriting was on the wall forMinecraft Legendsnot long after its release. Despite seeing around three million players in its first few weeks, Steam data depicts a drop-off of 99% of players after a month. On Steam, the title went from over 5000 concurrent players on release to fewer than 50 at present. Throughout those nine months, the game received a constant barrage of not only mixed reviews, but negative reviews on Steam that were accompanied by refunds. Though Mojang’s January 10 post states that development ended due to the completion of ‘a series of changes and tweaks to make the game better’, the game’s notable decline was likely as much of a factor.
Minecraft Legends Has Some Big Flaws
There’s an issue withMinecraft Legends' gameplay loopthat many have pointed out, one that laid behind most refunds. The problem is how little variety there is on the core loop; players will constantly be building the same structures, fighting the same enemies, and waiting for their minions to tear up Nether portals. This repetition quickly becomes monotonous and, considering how this element can be found right at the game’s start, it’s no wonder that so many players gave up onMinecraft Legendsafter an hour.
Mojang’s Lack of Interaction With The Legends Community Likely Didn’t Help Matters
Minecraftas a franchise is one that owes much of its popularity to an endless deluge of fan content. Player builds, Let’s Plays, song parodies, massive multiplayer servers, PvP tournaments, memes, mods, and more areall at the heart ofMinecraft’slongevity. However, Mojang simply didn’t foster this withMinecraft Legends. Most community work was done by the other studio that worked on the game, Blackbird Interactive. Blackbird talked more to fans and hosted many AMAs on Discord, displaying a passion for the title that sparked hope in the dwindling playerbase.
In addition, these devs have also talked about the sheer scale of cut content (such as villager cultures and spider nests), things that dataminers have managed to dig up. This stands in contrast to the lack of updates throughout 2023, where only November really brought a sizable chunk of new content. Updates beforehand polished the game, added new settings, and changed some mechanics, but didn’t bring in much in the way of new enemies, structures, minions, or mounts. This isn’t a bad thing by itself; most games don’t get multiple content updates in a year. However, combining this with a mountain of cut content and a lack of community outreach made it seem to fans as if Mojang was resting on its laurels. Perhaps if the studio engaged withMinecraft Legends' initial playerbasebetter, the game would have been supported for longer.
Minecraft Spin-Offs Seem Doomed For The Grave
Mojang’s strategy of releasingMinecraftspin-offs doesn’t seem to be setting the additional games up for longevity. The first among them,Minecraft: Story Mode, was somewhat popular despite criticism—but in equal part has often been blamed for killing Telltale Games, even if such a reputation is debatable.Minecraft Dungeons’development ended in 2023—but at least had an amicable 3-year lifespan, so it can’t really be called a failure. However,Minecraft Earthwas discontinued entirely in 2021 after spending most of its life restrained by COVID-19, whileLegendsdidn’t even last a year. Unfortunately, it seems likeMinecraftspin-offs are doomed to lack the longevity of the main game.
Minecraft Legends
WHERE TO PLAY
InMinecraft Legends, you play as the hero! You might think that means you’ll be doing all the fighting, but actually: you’ll be doing all theleading.InLegendsyou’re not the only fighter, and in fact, your allies are better equipped to deal with the piglins than you are. Your task is to summon new friends and lead them in battle to defeat the rampaging piglins. You will have to defend villages, destroy piglin bases, and more to push back the piglins’ Nether corruption. Different allies have different strengths and weaknesses, which when used wisely can give you the edge in battle. In true Minecraft fashion, you must also make sure that you don’t run out of resources, so that you can keep spawning allies and building defensive or offensive structures. Exploring the Overworld is also important: it’s how you meet new friends and discover new resources, and even treasure! Plus, you’ll get to experience a new Overworld each time you play through the campaign, because every playthrough generates a unique map.
