Last year, Minecraft celebrated its 15th anniversary, marking a significant milestone in its journey. Despite entering its teenage years, developer Mojang has no intention of replacing it with a sequel. During a recent visit to the Stockholm studio, IGN inquired about the possibility of a sequel for the best-selling game of all time. Ingela Garneij, the executive producer of Minecraft Vanilla, responded with humor and clarity, stating, “Do you think we're going to have an Earth 2? No, no, there's no Minecraft 2.”
While a sequel, Minecraft 2.0, is clearly not in the works, the survival-crafting phenomenon continues to evolve. Mojang's vision extends far into the future, with ambitions to at least double the game's current lifespan. Ingela Garneij emphasized this commitment, saying, “We've existed for 15 years. We want to exist at least 15 years more so we actually, Agnes [Larsson, Minecraft Vanilla’s game director] and I, we work as a team. We set the vision and strategy for our game for what can we do beyond that.”
Mojang's drive to innovate is fueled by a desire to build upon the game's robust foundations. However, Garneij acknowledged that these foundations are aging. While there are no plans for a complete engine overhaul, the development of new content, such as the recently unveiled Vibrant Visuals graphics update, takes time due to the game's 15-year-old technology. Garneij noted, “I think the age of the game is a challenge. It's a 15-year-old platform, 15-year-old technology that slows us down in one sense. So other new games have new engines, and they can run really fast. So I would say the technology and our age [are our biggest challenges].”
Despite these challenges, Minecraft remains one of the world's most popular games, showing no signs of slowing down. There are also no plans to transition Minecraft to a free-to-play model or to incorporate generative AI technology. As Ingela Garneij humorously put it, don't expect to play Minecraft 2 anytime soon—not on this Earth, at least.
For the latest updates and future plans for Minecraft, be sure to check out everything announced at Minecraft Live 2025.
