Do fans want Minecraft 2? Original developer puts it to a public vote

After becoming exhausted by the attention and pressure of heading both Mojang and Minecraft, selling his 71 per cent stake to Microsoft for $2.5 billion in late 2014, the Swedish video game programmer has only since worked on small projects with mixed success.

Right at the start of 2025, however, Notch has brought himself back to the forefront of the community by gauging interest in a "spiritual successor thing to Minecraft" on the below X (formerly Twitter) post.

While working on his next game, Perrson's first post goes into his thinking that he wants to do some "market research", asking via a poll what would make players happier: a new yet traditional roguelike game or a Minecraft 2.

Five days later, at the time of writing, the poll has so far earned almost 287,000 votes, with 81.5 per cent in favour of the "make Minecraft 2 boomer" option.

Although, it was his response to a user's question in a following post thread on 3rd January in which Notch fully clarified his intentions.

"I basically announced Minecraft 2," says Notch.

"My intentions are to be clear and honest about it, saying that spiritual successors are usually kind of... you know... washed up. Tragic.

"The things I'm fearing my next game is going to be anyway and try to push myself to avoid. So why not do the thing that people DO want and are willing to give me, somehow, even MORE cash for."

Notch doesn't appear to be a fan of the direction Microsoft's taken the franchise over the years, judging from his unique phrasing towards the end of the second post, but he insists on being a man of his word in going for the more lucrative option if that's what the people want, without infringing on the work of those who remain at Mojang.

Since selling his share of Mojang to Microsoft, Perrson has been no stranger to controversy, receiving criticism over his posted social and political opinions on X (Twitter at the time) over the years, to the point where mentions of him were removed from Minecraft's 19w13a update and he wasn't invited to the game's 10th-anniversary celebration.

When addressing the latter to Variety, a Microsoft spokesperson explained: "His comments and opinions do not reflect those of Microsoft or Mojang and are not representative of Minecraft."

Almost six years on, it's unknown whether such controversies would make an impact on the sales of a Minecraft 2 today.

On that, we're almost certain Notch wouldn't be allowed to call a Minecraft spiritual successor 'Minecraft 2' depending on the intricacies of his deal with Microsoft, so it's also currently anyone's guess as to how much demand there will be in today's wider market for a similar game without that iconic brand name.

If you are one of those who would be excited for a spiritual Minecraft 2, there's still plenty of content in the original game to get into while you wait – including villager jobs, learning how to craft a campfire, and learning what the best Minecraft seeds are.

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