Minecraft developer Mojang remains steadfast in its commitment to traditional game development, explicitly rejecting the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in crafting its iconic game. Amidst the growing trend of integrating AI into game development, as seen with Activision's use of generative AI art in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Microsoft's development of Muse for generating game ideas, Mojang stands firm in its preference for human creativity.
Minecraft, celebrated for its unparalleled success with over 300 million sales, continues to thrive on the human touch that has made it the best-selling game of all time. Agnes Larsson, the game director of Minecraft Vanilla, emphasized this during a recent event attended by IGN, stating, "Here for us, just like Minecraft is about creativity and creating, I think it's important that it makes us feel happy to create as humans. That's a purpose, [it] makes life look beautiful. So for us, we really want it to be our teams that make our games."
Echoing Larsson's sentiments, Ingela Garneij, executive producer of Minecraft Vanilla, highlighted the unique creative process behind Minecraft. "For me, it's the thinking outside of the box part. This specific touch of: what is Minecraft? How does it look? That extra quality is really tricky to create through AI. We even try to have remote teams sometimes and guide them in building things for us, which has never worked, because you have to be here working together face-to-face. Creativity is... you need to meet like this as a person, as a human to really truly understand the values and principles and the ecosystem, the lore, everything. It's so massive Minecraft, it's a planet, it's massive."
Mojang's dedication to human creativity is further evidenced by their ongoing efforts to enhance the game. The upcoming graphics update, dubbed Vibrant Visuals, is set to be released soon, and the company continues to resist the shift to a free-to-play model. This approach aligns with Mojang's philosophy of continually improving and expanding the original game, rather than creating a "Minecraft 2." Despite being 16 years old, Minecraft shows no signs of slowing down, and Mojang's stance against incorporating generative AI remains unwavering.
For more details on what's next for Minecraft, be sure to check out everything announced at Minecraft Live 2025.
