Minecraft May Have Saved the Game Industry From Itself

Everyone’s favorite sandbox title Minecraft may have had a bigger impact on the game industry than most people realize, says veteran game developer Brenda Romero. The developer says that prior to Minecraft, most developers were hyperfocused on adding realistic graphics, but Minecraft’s success (in spite of its simple visuals) changed all that. 

Speaking at DICE, Romero called Mojang’s open-world builder a revolutionary game that served as a “reboot of the graphics arms race.” 

“It literally reset projects,” she said (as reported by GamesIndustry). 

“There were massive projects in the works that got rebooted entirely because of Minecraft. Gameplay matters. What’s happening in the player’s head matters. Minecraft at least in my experience is just shockingly unprecedented.”

Minecraft was the one game to prove that gameplay mechanics mattered more than presenting prettier pictures to players. 

“And players are much more willing to explore things whereas in the past the reaction may have been ‘look at the shitty graphics.’ I feel like we’re past that point,” she said.

“I’m seeing game publishers taking lots of smaller bets, knowing that maybe of these 10 bets one is going to pan out. That’s happening now,” he said.

“People look at things like say, Minecraft, like FTL, and you can potentially have the same return on investment.”

You just need to take a look at games like Darkest Dungeon or Sunless Sea to realize games are taking a very different course from what they were a few years ago, prior to Minecraft’s success—and that’s probably a good thing. Furthermore, companies like Ubisoft are willing to invest in smaller projects like Rayman Legends and Valiant Hearts, while still seeing major returns on investment.