Minecraft Won’t Go Free-to-Play: ‘It’s the Best Deal in the World’

In an age when many live service games of its kind have pivoted to a free-to-play business model, Minecraft stubbornly remains a premium experience. During a recent interview with IGN, developer Mojang said it’s determined to stick with the established “buy and own the game” approach, even now, 16 years after it came out. In short: don’t expect Minecraft to go free-to-play any time soon.

“Yeah, it doesn’t really work with the way we built it,” explained Ingela Garneij, executive producer of Minecraft Vanilla.

“I mean we built the game for a different purpose. So monetization doesn’t work in that way for us. It’s a purchase of the game and then that’s it. For us it’s important that our game is available for as many people as possible. And so I think that’s a very core value that it should be accessible for everyone. It’s the best deal in the world.”

As the industry has evolved over the years, many games have made the jump to free-to-download but infested with battle pass and cosmetic pack waters, with mixed results. Examples include Overwatch 2’s decision to go free-to-play, Destiny 2, or Minecraft’s Microsoft stablemate Halo Infinite (at least when it comes to its multiplayer).

The pressure is of course on video game publishers and developers to find new ways to monetize to survive, but this is seemingly a pressure not felt by Garneij and her Mojang teammates: “No, no. What’s important for us is that many people can enjoy it still and that’s going on strong still.”

It’s a sentiment expanded upon by Minecraft Vanilla’s game director, Agnes Larsson: ”I mean for me, it’s part of the important values of Minecraft. I think it’s become such an important thing of what Minecraft is and the perfect culture and values, and I think we all here can agree on that. It’s a thing for the game and it’s one part of what makes the game strong. It has strong values.”

Minecraft will continue to evolve without asking its players to spend money for new features, then. This is exemplified by the upcoming Vibrant Visuals graphics overhaul, which arrives free of charge in the coming months. And with no plans for a Minecraft 2 on the horizon, there’ll be no need to purchase the best-selling game of all time again any time soon. Unless you want to play it on another one of the seemingly endless amount of devices it finds itself on these days, of course.

Simon Cardy is a Senior Editorial Producer who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.