Minecraft developer Mojang has firmly stated that it has no plans to integrate generative artificial intelligence into its game development process. As the use of AI in game development becomes increasingly prevalent, evident through examples like Activision's use of generative AI art in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Microsoft's development of Muse, an AI designed to generate game ideas, Mojang stands firm in its commitment to human creativity.
Mojang's dedication to the human touch has been a key factor in Minecraft's success, making it the best-selling game of all time with over 300 million copies sold. During a recent event attended by IGN, Minecraft Vanilla game director Agnes Larsson emphasized the importance of human creativity, 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.”
Ingela Garneij, executive producer of Minecraft Vanilla, further elaborated on this philosophy, highlighting the challenges of maintaining the unique essence of Minecraft through AI. “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 continues to build upon Minecraft's record-breaking success with ongoing updates. The newly announced graphics update, "Vibrant Visuals," is set to be released soon, and the company remains steadfast in its decision not to make Minecraft free-to-play. This approach aligns with Mojang's philosophy of enhancing 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 using generative AI remains firm.
For more details on upcoming features, be sure to check out everything announced at Minecraft Live 2025.
