Minecraft Creator Announces its Spiritual Successor Calling It ‘Minecraft 2‘

Markus “Notch” Persson, the original creator of Minecraft, has hinted at the possibility of developing a “sequel” to the best-selling video game of all time.

On Jan. 1, Notch posted a poll on his X account, asking followers whether he should create a brand-new game, describing it as a retro-inspired roguelike dungeon crawler, or develop a “second part” of Minecraft. His tweet, posted on New Year’s Day, appeared to be a casual request for feedback, as he stated, “I’d be happy to oblige either, which one would make you happier?”

With hundreds of thousands of votes and the poll still open for another five days, its implications were already clear to Notch. In a follow-up tweet on Jan. 3, he acknowledged the overwhelming interest in a Minecraft sequel, stating, “I basically announced Minecraft 2”.

Notch was careful to distance himself from Mojang, the studio he sold to Microsoft in 2014. He emphasized his respect for the team and Microsoft’s stewardship of the franchise, but without hiding his feelings about the big corporation’s gamedev approach.

Markus created Minecraft in 2009. He initially developed it as a pet project and released a very early version called “Cave Game” before renaming it to Minecraft. The game quickly gained attention for its open-ended creativity and unique aesthetics.

As Notch began selling the game, it became an instant hit. With its early sales, Notch became a millionaire almost overnight. The game’s simplicity and limitless possibilities resonated with players worldwide, driving its massive success.

In 2014, Notch sold Mojang, the company behind Minecraft, to Microsoft for $2.5 billion. However, as part of the deal, he relinquished all rights to the Minecraft brand, meaning he can no longer use the name “Minecraft” for any of his projects or ventures.

Since its sale, Minecraft has only grown in popularity. Microsoft has expanded the franchise with several spin-offs, such as:

• Minecraft: Story Mode and Minecraft: Story Mode: Season 2 – An adventure game developed by Telltale Games;
• Minecraft Earth – an augmented reality (AR) sandbox game;
• Minecraft Dungeons – A dungeon crawler inspired by games like Diablo;
• Minecraft Dungeons Arcade – An arcade adaptation version of Minecraft Dungeons associated with collectible cards.
• Minecraft Legends – A strategy-action hybrid that explores a new style of gameplay.
  

On top of game projects, a Minecraft movie is coming to release on April 4, 2025, starring Jack Black, Kate McKinnon, Jason Momoa and Jennifer Coolidge.

Minecraft heads the list of best-selling video games, with 300,000,000 sales on multiple platforms and outpacing Grand Theft Auto V for almost a hundred million copies, as of the time of writing. In the meantime, the best-selling game in 2024 is Black Myth: Wukong, an action RPG developed by Game Science that sold over 25 million copies globally.

Since its launch, the number of average monthly active Minecraft users only showed an increase, up to the latest available stats of 173.29 million in September 2024.