Minecraft sequel unlikely according to Xbox chief

A sequel to Minecraft, the game recently acquired by Microsoft, is not likely to go into development in the near future. Speaking in a podcast for IGN, head of Xbox Phil Spencer spoke about how he was wary of creating another instalment of the popular game for fear of splintering the very strong community. Spencer explained that Minecraft 2 might not be the best option for Microsoft, saying:

“I don’t know if Minecraft 2… if that’s the thing that makes the most sense. The community around Minecraft is as strong as any community out there. We need to meet the needs and the desires of what the community has before we get permission to go off and do something else.

“It doesn’t mean that everything we’re going to do is going to map to 100% of their acceptance, because I don’t know if there is any topic where 100% of people agree. But we look at job one as to go out and meet the needs of the Minecraft community first, and then we can think about ways that we can actually help grow it. That’s our sole focus.”

Microsoft bought developer Mojang and the rights to Minecraft earlier in the year for $2.5 billion, leading to many fans of the game believing that the technology company would look to create further games based on the concept to help get some of that money back. However, a sequel doesn’t seem to even be necessary for Microsoft to continue raking in money from the hugely popular game. Minecraft currently still sits high in charts on both sides of the Atlantic, while the recently released next generation versions of the game have also sold well.  In fact, Minecraft is now the third best-selling game of all time, with over 50 million copies sold, and shows no sign of slowing down. A movie based on Minecraft is also currently in development by Warner Bros., with rumors linking Shawn Levy with directing duties, providing a further possible outlet to increase profits.