Why Minecraft spinoffs have failed to become as successful as the original game

Minecraft is one of the few games that has retained players even a decade after it's release. There is no questioning its popularity. The upcoming Minecraft 1.21 update is highly anticipated, which shows just how relevant the title still is. However, something that baffles many people is how its spinoffs have always failed, no matter how innovative their gameplay has been.

This begs the question - why have Minecraft's spinoffs failed to remain popular? The answer might be simpler than anyone could imagine.

Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and solely reflect the opinions of the writer.

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Minecraft: The lost recipe for success?

Minecraft Earth (Image via Mojang Studios)

Minecraft’s success has been monumental. The game has sold millions of copies and has developed an active community. But even with such a loyal player base, any spinoff hasn't been able to survive more than a few years.

The first was Story Mode, which was released way back in 2015. While it was not exactly a spinoff, it did offer a slightly different gameplay experience with a proper story that told players where to go and what to do.

However, the response to the game was mostly negative, with people not liking how the story progressed, the limitations it had, and the overall restricted gameplay.

Mojang Studios understood that this was not what people wanted. So, after a few years, it pulled the plug, and no one was really bothered by its absence.

The next three spinoffs were more ambitious, different, and creative. First came Dungeons, then Earth, which offered an augmented reality gameplay experience, and finally, Legends.

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Minecraft Dungeons

Unlike regular minecraft I’m already bored of dungeons. byu/Beenoman inMinecraftDungeons

Dungeons was an action-adventure dungeon-crawler that let players collect loot and kill mobs. The problem was that it was just that. Nothing new, nothing more.

The game was a failure mostly due to its repetitive and boring gameplay, which resulted in Dungeons shutting down. It had the problem of not offering any new game mechanics, while ditching the interesting ones. While the title looked good, a lack of exciting combat system and the abilty to mine and create items of choice was the major reason why it was soon abandoned.

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Minecraft Earth

Mojang officially announced shutting down Minecraft Earth (Image via Mojang Studios)

MC Earth was an exciting addition to the list of spinoffs. It used the newly introduced AR technology to let players play the beloved game in their surrounding space.

On paper, the concept sounded great. However, the response was mostly lukewarm.

Farewell Minecraft Earth byu/iiMGreen inMinecraft_Earth

The game was soon shut down as Mojang did not want to use anymore resources on it, leaving the few but dedicated fans of MC Earth stranded. Perhaps the reason for this game's failure was that it was too gimmicky, just like most AR titles are.

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Minecraft Legends

Why did this game fail? byu/Open_Cow_9148 inMinecraftLegends

The latest coffin was of Legends. It had a great story and talented voice actors. But again, the boring and repetitive combat, along with the lack of any creative input from the players, made it stale. Almost all of the game was going to place A, smashing the Hit button, and then repeating it again in a different location.

Despite the three games having different gameplay experiences, new mechanics, completely different storylines, and even modern, better graphics, they failed terribly.

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Nothing compares to the original game

Minecraft Legends (Image via Mojang)

So can there be a spinoff that actually works? It can, but it certainly is difficult. The reason for that is very simple.

The original game is unique. Everyone’s gameplay experience is unique, and there is no limitation on what players can do. From just farming and building houses to building a playable Minesweeper game inside it, the range of things someone can do is massive.

The only reason why Minecraft is popular despite having outdated graphics, poor combat, and much less content than other games is because of how it lets players run their creativity wild. They create their own story in the game. The shutting down of Minecraft Legends confirmed that spinoffs are quite difficult to impress fans.

Why would anyone need MC Dungeons or MC Legends when they can play much superior games like Hades, Diablo, Riverbond, etc? AR games such as Angry Birds AR offer a much better-augmented reality experience than MC Earth.

But no other game comes close to the original Minecraft.