Mojang, creators of massive global hit “Minecraft,” are working on its first new major game in more than a decade: “Minecraft: Dungeons.”

The game is a dungeon crawler a bit like Blizzard’s “Diablo” titles but starring the blocky creatures, characters, and creations of “Minecraft.” The game, due out on PC in 2019, will support up to four players in cooperative play.

“This was a passion project from a small dedicated team at Mojang,” said Jens Bergensten, lead developer at the studio. “It lets players live the experience of spelunking, mining, and cave exploring in the sense of a classic dungeon crawler game.”

Bergensten said the game will feature both the well-known creations from the original game but also a bunch of new items and bosses.

“It’s a distilled version of ‘Minecraft,’” Bergensten said, noting that it won’t have building or block destruction. “We wanted to focus on making the dungeon crawler part of the game as good as possible. We talked about adding building a lot, but we were concerned it would distract from what the game is meant to be about.”

The adventure game will feature a story and is being built inside Unreal Engine, he said. There are plans for a beta, but it will be rolled out to a relatively small group of people.

The new game, which doesn’t yet have a price, was announced during the weekend’s Minecon Earth 2018.

Like death, taxes, and NCIS, Minecraft simply won’t stop. Nearly a decade has passed since the game first appeared in early access on the PC, the block-world franchise is still kicking. Fans have been excited for next year’s Village and Pillage Update, and the development team is holding a new contest that will allow one lucky player to have their cat immortalized in-game via a custom cat skin.

If you feel that your cat has what it takes to live forever in the digital block universe, you’ll need to submit a picture or video of it to either Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram while using the hashtag #Minecraftcatcontest.

Applications are being accepted now through November 12. The finalists will be formally announced on November 16, at which point the community will be able to cast votes for which of the three final cats will make the cut for inclusion into the game via a skin created by pixel artist Jasper Boestra. The winning cat will be announced by the Minecraft development team on November 19.

For a full rundown of all the official rules of the contest, please refer to the Minecraft Cat Contest rules page. Keep it tuned to Shacknews for more updates on Minecraft’s Pillage and Village update as they become available.

Amateur esports company Super League Gaming announced three distinct challenges for its Minecraft community all centered around the upcoming “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” movie on Monday.

Super League is gearing up for the Dec. 14 release of the animated film in style, with three competitions held between Oct. 27 and Dec. 9.

First up, Super League’s Minecraft City Champs tournament will have players battling it out in the new “Spider-Verse: Domination,” a mini-game inspired by the film that has teams of five battling to snatch up and then maintain points in a map of New York City based on the setting of the feature film.

The Minecraft City Champs competition will be held in select movie theaters across 16 competing, major markets in the US during four Saturdays in a row, starting Oct. 27. The competition is open to registered players 17 or under, and registration currently costs $49.99 for those who sign up by 12 p.m. PT on Monday. Participants will receive a special jersey and access to an early screening of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” In one of the cities (to be announced), a “Minecraft influencer” will greet the players in a red carpet style premiere, according to a press release.

Next up, Super League’s November Minecraft Monthly program’s theme will be “The Battle for NY,” and will also feature “Spider-Verse: Domination.” This competition will have players participating from the comfort of their homes every Sunday starting on Nov. 4. Players will compete in Super League Minecraft mini-games set in “film-based maps of New York City” for the chance to win some special prizes. The kickoff will include one “top Minecraft influencer” livestreaming as they play alongside the participants.

Finally, December will bring a build competition open to all American “Minecraft” players who want to try their hand at creating a “Spider-Verse” version of New York City inspired build. The competition will run from Dec. 1 to Dec. 9. The larger “Minecraft” community will be able to view these creations, which will feature “individual spots within New York City,” according to a press release, on Super League’s site.

Matt Edelman, the CCO of Super League Gaming, expressed his enthusiasm for the three competitions coming up soon.

“Super League Gaming is a player-first company – we constantly strive to bring more value into the player experience,” said Edelman. “Sony Pictures immediately understood that and encouraged us to design an authentic program to support ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ that would excite and delight our community. We can’t wait for it to launch!”

Minecraft developer Mojang has announced a new competition aimed at finding a new feline superstar. This is basically a fancy way of saying that your pet cat could end up being in the game next year. Cool, right? Cats are awesome, after all. Except when they wake you up at 3.00am just to see if you’re in the house.

Anyway, to enter all you have to do is take a snapshot or video of your furry friend and share it on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using the hashtag #Minecraftcatcontest. Just make sure you do your cat proud and have he/she looking their best, eh?

Mojang is giving you until November 12 to submit your chosen cat, after which point the community team will narrow down the submissions to the final three felines.

You can then vote on which cat makes it into the game via social media, with more details being shared on November 16, at which point voting stations will open. The winning cat will be announced on November 19, before joining Minecraft via the Village and Pillage update in 2019.

You can read up on more details regarding the competition https://minecraft.net/en-us/article/minecraftnet-cat-contest-terms .

With the gym lights turned down low, video-game music throbbing, and a state-of-the-art projector system casting space-age targets onto two walls, a new kind of phys-ed class aimed at getting the post-Nintendo generation to get up and run around has arrived in the Philadelphia area.

It took the kids at the Valley Day School in Morrisville a few minutes to get the hang of newfangled games that were part-dodgeball, part-basketball, and part-Super Mario Brothers. But after several minutes of sometimes mad scrambling across the gym floor, one group of fifth and sixth graders was giggling and squealing and their hearts were almost certainly racing.

It’s exactly what the Canadian developers of this newfangled hybrid gym class, called the Lu Interactive Playground, were going for.

The $28,000 price tag for the system includes the two large projectors on the ceiling, two other devices that house lights and the computers that help teachers control 25 different games using hand-held controllers with keyboards. The games are projected on opposing gym walls, with synchronized lighting and sound effects, inviting kids to throw balls at targets ranging from animals to math problems to objects floating through space.

“It’s very fun – you get to interact with it, play around with it.” said eighth grader Scott Dangler, 13, of the sporting spectacle from augmented-reality design firm SAGA. “It’s like dodgeball – but more fun.”

Bemused but entertained by the high-tech competition he called “a very good workout” was physical education teacher James Romano – also the Jenkintown girls’ basketball coach, who just notched his 600th victory in his 36th season. Said Romano: “I don’t even have a cellphone – so this is outer space for me!”

Gym class had long been the last low-tech holdout as sleek laptops, virtual-reality goggles and other computer-driven learning tools have taken over traditional classrooms. But the computer age has also sparked the skyrocketing popularity of home video games and a rise in childhood obesity that experts have linked in part to kids shunning outdoor exercise to spend hours with their game controllers or on the web.

The concept behind SAGA’s Lu, which launched less than a year ago in a Quebec elementary school and which the company has installed in 30 locations worldwide this year, is quite simply that if you can’t beat video games, join them – by creating fast-moving games that drop kids into a high-tech playing field of augmented reality. The only other U.S. location is at a public elementary school in St. Louis.

“The kids we had in mind when we designed this were kids who were not really into sports, not good at sports or interested in sports,” said SAGA CEO Vincent Routhier. Designers looked at “how can we find a way to make them active a little more – while they are not realizing they are training or exercising…” he said. With a background in film production, he got the idea for the Lu after seeing a video of a gym teacher who had hooked up his iPad to a projector to create interactive games for kids.

The idea of integrating computer technology into gym class is not completely new. It started with Dance Dance Revolution, the turn-of-the-millennium game that got kids moving their feet to video cues on a screen. Other gym classes make use of technology to allow students to monitor their heart rate, or to receive instruction from a video screen while the teacher is freed up to coach kids on their individual technique.

One experimental concept that gained traction in as many as 700 classrooms across the Philadelphia School District was Johnson & Johnson’s Activity Works, which asked kids to get up and move around during simulated activities like trips to a rainforest or outer space. Bettyann Creighton, the executive director of health, safety and physical education for the city schools, said the classroom exercise raised student heart rates and improved learning.

“The brilliant part about all of this is more and more teachers are understanding that movement and physical activity really does bring improvement in academic achievement,” Creighton said. “It turns the brain on for learning.”

Science supports that. One 2013 study of 12,000 Nebraska schoolkids, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, found a strong correlation between a child’s physical fitness and higher achievement scores. That’s created an opening for high-tech entrepreneurs who say the best way to get students excited about exercise is to co-opt their fixation with video games.

Jarrod Saracco, a Delaware-based fitness industry consultant, said “it doesn’t matter if the kid’s an athlete or a video gamer…they’re both very competitive in their own nature. That kid playing Minecraft or Xbox, he wants to beat the game as much as [the] kid playing sports wants to beat his game.”

One of Saracco’s clients, Illinois-based Exergame Fitness, has created what relationship manager Parker Johnson called “an active learning lab” for kids at YMCAs or school gymnasiums, using exercise bikes or projections onto walls and floors. Johnson said the firm believes its products are particularly valuable for kids with anxiety issues or ADHD. “Exercise is a great way to settle the mind,” he said.

But Cheryl Richardson, senior director of programs at SHAPE America, a society of health and physical educators, said the new opportunities created by augmented reality in gym class could raise potential pitfalls for some students.

“It would probably not be a very friendly environment for students with autism – it could just be overwhelming,” Richardson said, adding she was also concerned whether the fast pace allows teachers to work with kids on skills that are traditionally part of phys-ed class, like encouraging good teamwork.

At the Lu session at Valley Day School, which has 90 kids in kindergarten through 12th grade who require emotional and academic support, Romano acknowledged that a lot of older kids prefer the sports they grew up with, like basketball or volleyball, which the school still offers, but that begins to change somewhat after they see how much the younger kids enjoy the new interactive games.

Seventh grader Emma Prendergast, 13, said “I actually enjoy it, though I much prefer traditional games” that have a little more freedom. “With the computer you have to play the game the way it’s designed.”

Education director Ron Hall said the lights and sounds and images are engaging and create an emotional connection for kids, especially those who dislike traditional sports. The system can also project movies or PowerPoints, an added value that he used to sell it to the school’s board of directors.

“Now we’ve got to turn our brains on!” exclaimed Hall as he switched to a math game. The problem 9 plus 6 popped up on the screen surrounded by various numbers. Six fifth and sixth graders started throwing balls until they hit the right answer.

“Little kids love it because of the sound and the music,” Romano said. “It’s an extension of computers. That’s the generation we live in. It’s stepping into a video game.”

After math it was time for spelling. A picture of a bull popped up and the kids quickly threw balls at letters to spell the word. Then came a tough one…rhinoceros. After R, they were stumped. But it didn’t matter. They kept throwing balls until the game was over and it was time to go back to class.

The game, said Keirra Ciotti, 10, as she skipped back to class, was “spectacular.”

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A festival this weekend at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks is built entirely around the video game “Minecraft.”

The event, called “Minefaire: A Minecraft Fan Experience,” is it “an experience that you really cannot replicate at home,” according to event founder Chad Collins.

“Imagine walking into 150,000 square feet of ‘Minecraft’ heaven,” he said.

If you’re not familiar with “Minecraft,” Collins describes it as using Legos but in digital form.

“So you’re able to create worlds and interact with other characters in the game,” he explained, “and just really let your imagination run wild.”

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Some of the highlights of this festival include live gaming, virtual reality and workshops.

“We’re going to have Guinness World Records on site,” added Collins, “so you’re going to be able to participate in special challenges they’re going to have, and brand new this year is the escape room.”

Parents: Don’t plan on just sitting back and watching your kids have fun.

“We always have every age group in mind, so we make sure that it’s a 100 percent inclusive experience,” said Collins.

That includes the learning lab, where parents and their children are encouraged to participate together.

“You’re going to learn something about your kid that you never learned before,” Collins said.

Minefaire takes place Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets range from $39 to $69. For more information, visit minefaire.com.

Elsewhere in the Delaware Valley this weekend, parents may have been ferrying their kids to the mall, dropping them off at soccer, or bribing their cooperation through the weekly supermarket run.

But Saturday at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, Franklinville father Chris Gordon was his two young daughters’ escort to an alternative digital universe of biomes, precious ores, the Creeper, and other creatures well-known to youngsters around the globe as Minecraft.

“I love it — just to see the creativity. This one’s 2 years old,” Gordon said, nodding to daughter Charlotte, “and she can build her own world.”

“I like that you can do creative stuff,” agreed sister Elizabeth, 9.

Indeed there was lots of creative stuff and as many worlds as there were kids at Minefaire, a celebration of one of the world’s most popular computer games that continued Sunday at the expo center in Oaks, Montgomery County, and was expected to draw more than 10,000 people.

Steve Zawdony shooting video of his nephew in the costume judging at the Minefaire Expo at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center on Saturday.
BRADLEY C BOWER FOR THE INQUIRER
Steve Zawdony shooting video of his nephew in the costume judging at the Minefaire Expo at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center on Saturday.
Although the game is the brainchild of a Swedish game developer, Minefaire, first held in 2016, is the creation of two Central Bucks County fathers, Chad Collins, an engineer, and Gabe Young, who had a career in corporate project management. Their own kids helped spark their enthusiasm for gaming, which led to the two friends creating the first Minefaire locally and expanding it to 10 other U.S. cities. They’ve long left their day jobs, now also operating Brick Fest Live, inspired by Collins’ daughter Jordyn’s love of Legos, and their Young Innovators Fair.

“Not only do we have an opportunity to share this with our kids,” said Young, “but they actually help us.”

Minefaire is very much a family affair.

Mary Ann Elliot came all the way from Myrtle Beach, S.C., to bring her grandson Dominic Becker, who lives outside Reading, to the fair to celebrate his 13th birthday. Elliot was also giving the digital realm a whirl herself Saturday on an event-provided PC.

“Oooh, it did something!” Elliot exclaimed as a cube creation rotated on her screen. “Being a grandma, you’re always learning something.”

She wasn’t alone on the learning curve. On hand helping was Steve Isaacs, who teaches game development at a North Jersey middle school. Isaacs said he is one of about 300 Minecraft education mentors around the world who help teachers learn how to adapt the game to the classroom. He said it’s been used in just about every curriculum, including teaching Shakespeare.

Meanwhile, some of the game’s young practitioners could teach older heads a thing or two about being entrepreneurs. At this weekend’s Minefaire, there were YouTubers who have developed their own Minecraft channels with their fans.

Take Jack Beck, 20, who started making videos of his Minecraft adventures and creations when he was a sophomore at Holy Ghost Prep in Bensalem. Not long after, the videos and the game became a refuge of sorts. He said his little sister Mary was stricken with cancer; the videos became a way to help cheer up her and himself.

But then Beck started showing them on YouTube and getting paid. Now, he and his avatar BeckBroJack travel around the country with Minefaire. His YouTube hobby is now a full-time gig.

“He’s getting ready to hit a million subscribers,” said his father, Bill, helping out Saturday along with Jack Beck’s younger brother Adam. Mary, now healthy and strong, was expected later. The elder Beck said his son’s YouTube channel earns him about $20,000 a month — that’s a month — pretty good for a kid who only did a semester at Temple University’s business school.

Abaigeal Wallace, 8, and her YouTube Minecraft channel, Cake Longtail, aren’t quite there yet, but give her time.

“She’s got 32 subscribers!” said Bradin Roberts, 10, of Sea Isle City, boasting on behalf of her quieter cousin.

Abaigeal and her mother, Margaret McGrogan, traveled from Virginia Beach to attend Minefaire with their South Jersey relatives who own Shoobies restaurant in Sea Isle and also love Minecraft.

The young YouTuber may not be making a bundle on her channel yet, but in the meantime there are other rewards.

Abaigeal is on the autism spectrum, her mother said. She shies away from social settings and is measured with her words.

“But when she turns the camera on, she’s like a different person,” McGrogan said. “She’s like an actress. It’s a positive outlet.”

Abaigeal piped up in agreement: “I love everything about Minecraft.”

Minecraft is holding a contest right now that gives one lucky player the chance to have their cat featured in the building game.

There’s already a collection of animals in Minecraft that players can breed, tame, and use for various resources, but the newest Minecraft contest will add a cat that’s quite familiar to at least one person. Mojang shared news of the contest on Saturday with a post that said Minecraft is calling for everyone’s best cat pictures.

“All you have to do to enter is take a photo or video of the cat you think deserves to be in Minecraft, then share it on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #Minecraftcatcontest,” the contest details said.

Along with the full details on Minecraft’s contest, the post said that people have until November 12th to submit their cat contest contributions. After narrowing the choices down to three different options, players will then vote on which of the three cats they think should be added to the game.

Voting will take place on November 16th with the winner chosen on November 19th, but players can go ahead and start submitting their cat pictures now. People have already started doing so with some of the best cat contestants that we’ve seen shown below.

“Mustache Cat” sounds like the perfect name for a Minecraft mob anyway, so this cat submission already has a decent chance of winning the cat contest. The furball of a cat already got a decent amount of attention on Twitter with the contest just beginning recently as well.

Instead of sharing an image of a house cat, a user submitted a picture of an actual lion. It’s not a likely winner seeing how it’s not sticking within the contest’s rules, but it’s still a viable suggestion for Minecraft to one day add much larger cats to the game.

Doing some of Mojang’s work for them, one Twitter user submitted images of what their cat would look like if it were added in-game. Pictures of the actual cat weren’t provided, but it gives an idea of what a player’s cat would look like in Minecraft.

Moving away from the stream of cat photos, one player had a different idea: Create a cat version of an existing mob. The Twitter user above submitted an idea for a “Puffercatfish” that tweaks the Pufferfish added in Update Aquatic and mixes it with a cat.

Another unlikely submission but one that’s still unique, Bongo Cat was of course suggested to capitalize on the relatively new meme. Bongo Cat has been turned into many things before, but never a Minecraft mob, so even if Mojang doesn’t add it, players will likely find some way to mod in their own version of the musical cat.

When it was originally released in 1993, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm didn’t receive anywhere near the reception it deserved. It’s reasonable to assume that most audience members were still thinking of the Caped Crusader in the terms of Tim Burton’s two live-action films, and didn’t think that an animated Batman implied a film aimed at adults as much as it was children. But although few saw it at the time, the secret of Mask of the Phantasm gradually began to get out. Some 25 years later, it’s rightly recognized as the finest Batman animated feature … and by many as the best Batman movie, period.

Sure, you can have your Dark Knight. Christopher Nolan’s film is a masterpiece, but it’s more of a crime epic than it truly is a traditional Batman story, of the type you’d find in the original comics. Mask of the Phantasm, on the other hand, is a classic Batman comic come to life; the synthesis of everything that was already great about the style-defining Batman: The Animated Series. Its Gotham is a blood-skied, terrifying megalopolis of gothic architecture. Its villains are chilling, but not afraid to ham it up at the same time. Its style is gratuitous and bombastic. It’s much more BATMAN than something like The Dark Knight ever attempts to be.

And now, it’s back in theaters! Yes, for one night only, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm will be returning to select theaters on Nov. 12, 2018, via Fathom Events. It’s your chance to see the best Batman movie in the way it was always meant to be seen! Oh, and we should probably mention that Richard Donner’s 1978 Superman will also be returning to theaters in the same way on Nov. 25 and 27, but come on—we know which of these films is cooler, right?

Directed by Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski, Mask of the Phantasm features many classic voices from the animated series and Batman lore, including Kevin Conroy as The Batman and Mark Hamill as The Joker, along with Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Alfred, Dana Delany as Andrea Beaumont and Stacy Keach as The Phantasm.

You can buy tickets for Mask of the Phantasm in advance by clicking here. In the meantime, enjoy this modern recreation of a new Phantasm trailer.

Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have launched a petition for Tobey Maguire to play a pizza delivery guy in Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Before either Andrew Garfield or Tom Holland suited up as the wall-crawler, Maguire played Peter Parker in Sam Raimi’s trilogy, concluding in 2007 with Spider-Man 3. Now a Change.org petition seeks to bring him back to the franchise, only in another role.

RELATED: Spider-Man: Far From Home Set Photos, Videos Show Off Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio

Petition creator Owen Lee explains how a Maguire cameo could work in the 2019 sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming. “Think about how cool it would be to get the OG movie Spider-Man to make a cameo in the MCU as a pizza delivery guy,” he wrote. “It could also open possibilities to the Spider-Verse in the MCU.”

Casting Maguire as a pizza delivery guy is also a nod to his role in Spider-Man 2, in which Peter Parker balanced his work at the Daily Bugle, complicated love life and superhero activities with a part-time job at Joe’s Pizza in New York.

One fan has taken Lee’s idea further and suggested Garfield could also join the Far From Home as the person who ordered the pizza. As it stands, however, there is only a petition to see Maguire in the superhero sequel. Sorry, Andrew.

Marvel movies are packed with references and cameos from the likes of Stan Lee, and some might remember how The Incredible Hulk TV actor Lou Ferrigno appeared in Louis Leterrier’s 2008 movie of the same name.

At the time of writing, more than 41,000 people have signed the Maguire petition, and with filming under way on Spider-Man: Far From Home, there is every possibility that director Jon Watts could find a cameo for the actor.

Spider-Man 2 is often cited as one of the best superhero movies of all time, and set a high standard for comic book movies before the MCU. It sounds like a great idea for Watts to homage Raimi’s legacy, and although Lee’s idea is a clever one, does it really top Tom Holland’s idea to have Maguire play Uncle Ben in a flashback sequence?

Directed by Jon Watts, Spider-Man: Far From Home stars Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Zendaya, Marisa Tomei, Jacob Batalon, Hemky Madera, Tony Revolori, Jake Gyllenhaal, Cobie Smulders and Samuel L. Jackson. It hits theaters on July 5, 2019.

Longstanding speculation that director Matt Reeves’ The Batman will star a younger Bruce Wayne has been given another boost with a new rumor that Jack O’Connell is being considered for the title role.

That Hashtag Show reports Warner Bros. has “expressed interest” in the 28-year-old actor, who rose to prominence on the U.K. drama Skins. Although the website emphasizes it’s been unable to substantiate the rumor, there are indications O’Connell may have been present for a recent meeting between studio executives and Ben Affleck, or else met with Warner Bros. himself.

The rumor arrives mere days after a report that, Affleck, newly out of alcohol rehabilitation, is still interested in returning to the role of the Dark Knight.

O’Connell, whose credits also include 300: Rise of an Empire, Money Monster and Trial by Fire, recently earned acclaim for his role as Roy Goode in the Netflix Western Godless.

He joins a growing list of actors, including Jake Gyllenhaal and Jon Hamm, who have been mentioned as a potential successor to Affleck as Warner Bros.’ Batman. There have been rumors that Reeves’ film is a reboot set early in the icon hero’s career, and thus featuring a younger actor in the title role. While the writer/director has clarified that the movie isn’t based on “Year One,” the influential comic book storyline by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, little else is known about the project.

Batman is easily one of the most engaging superheroes of all time. This mostly has to do with the fact that everything that makes him “super” is something he’s worked at mastering. Batman has no superheroes, as everyone knows. He was given no supernatural gifts via magic, technology, or alien-heritage. The only gift he was given was money. And what he did with this money is astounding.

Not only that, but he trained his body into becoming one of the most lethal weapons imaginable. On top of it all, Batman is an excellent tactician, an academic, a detective, and overall a complete genius. But just because Batman is such a fascinating character doesn’t mean that every single one of his movies have been up to snuff. In fact, a great deal of them haven’t been; need we talk about Batman & Robin?

Still, this hasn’t stopped the studios from pushing forward various films that feature The Caped Crusader, his allies, or his enemies. There have been many Batman movies that have been in the works in the past, but for various reasons have never seen the light of day. Seldom have they been the ones that fans have hoped for (you won’t see another Christopher Nolan film on this list, for instance). The same can be said for some of the upcoming Batman films. However, there may be two or three that we’d all actually love to see unfold on-screen.

Here are 10 Batman Films Currently In Development (And 10 That Were Canceled).

20IN DEVELOPMENT: THE BATMAN

The Batman seems to have had more of a complicated and rocky preproduction history than almost any other Batman film. At first, it seemed like Ben Affleck was set on not only starring in the film and writing it but directing it as well. That, of course, has changed over the years. Now, Matt Reeves has been locked into the project as the director and Affleck’s script has been scrapped.

However, it’s unclear whether or not Ben Affleck will return due to his personal issues, as well as whether or not Warner Bros. will continue with the DCEU continuity. Even the recent rumors that Jack O’Connell will be joining the film seem to be confusing fans. Regardless, this film is alive and will eventually find its way to the big-screen.

19ALMOST DEVELOPED: BILL MURRAY BATMAN

Ivan Reitman is easily one of the greatest comedy directors of all time. One of the reasons why is because he is able to find the authentic moments within the outrageous situations portrayed in his stories without it feeling forced. But he was an odd choice for a director to helm a Batman movie.

He was supposed to direct a film 1985 that featured comedy-legend Bill Murray as the Dark Knight.

Reitman was fresh off his hit-film Ghostbusters and promised a grittier take on the character’s origin story. The film, which was written by Superman screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz, was also rumored to star David Bowie as the Joker and feature Rupert Thorne as well as Silver St. Cloud as the love interest. However, for better or for worse, the movie plans fell through.

18IN DEVELOPMENT: JOKER

Of all the entries on this list, it seems like this Todd Phillips’ Joker film is getting the most publicity. Not only is this because it’s currently in production, but Batman fans are just obsessed with the Joker. Part of the character’s allure has to do with this mysterious past, something that seemingly will be uncovered in this new film.

Todd Phillips’ Joker film, starring Joaquin Phoenix, is a gritty take on a failed comedian’s decent into madness. With this Oscar-nominated performer taking on this iconic role, as well as Martin Scorsese in the producing seat, there’s a strong chance that this film could avoid disappointing the fans who worry that it will uncover too much about the origins of the Joker. The film is set for release in late 2019.

17ALMOST DEVELOPED: SCHUMACHER’S THIRD BATMAN

Who would have thought that Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever, starring Val Kilmer, Jim Carrey, and Tommy Lee-Jones, would have made money? Well, it did. A great deal of it actually. Even though critics didn’t like it, it was enough for the studio to greenlight Batman & Robin.

Before Batman & Robin became one of the most disliked films ever, Shumacher had actually planned his third Batman outing, which never saw the light of day.

That film was supposed to feature Nic Cage as Scarecrow and Madonna as Harley Quinn, who would be The Joker’s daughter instead of his love interest. It would also center around Batman confronting the person who ended his parents via Scarecrow’s fear toxin. Joel Schumacher just wasn’t the man to pull it off.

16IN DEVELOPMENT: “BIRDS OF PREY” MOVIE

Director Cathy Yan has been hard at work making sure that the Birds of Prey movie will be reaching the big screen in 2020. The movie, based on a popular series on graphic novels featuring characters from the Batman universe, is set to star Margot Robbie, reprising her role as Harley Quinn.

Quinn, after breaking up with the Joker, will team up with Black Canary, Officer Renee Montoya, and The Huntress to save the life of a little girl who may or may not grow up to be the next Batgirl. It’s been suggested that the Batman villain Black Mask will be featured as the Big Bad of the story. This would be a smart choice since the crime lord is often seen as far more ruthless and dangerous than many of Batman’s greatest foes.

15ALMOST DEVELOPED: TIM BURTON’S “BATMAN FOREVER”

It was Batman Returns’ tone as well as its mediocre box-office results that got Tim Burton removed rom his third Batman film. The biggest issue the studio had with Tim Burton after Batman Returns was the fact that the film was far too dark for some of the companies that had aligned themselves with the product, namely McDonalds. This is really too bad as it would have been nice to see Burton’s take on Batman Forever, which was eventually taken over by Joel Schumacher.

Before Burton was turfed, he had planned to have The Riddler as the main villain of the film.

It was rumored that Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman would return and a different version of Robin would be introduced. Unfortunately, Burton’s vision would never see the light of day.

14IN DEVELOPMENT: CHRIS MCKAY’S NIGHTWING

At one stage in the game, it seemed like the DC Extended Universe knew exactly what it was doing. So many were announced, and so many unexpected characters were given their very own standalone pieces. This includes Nightwing, a film directed by the Lego Batman Movie’s Adam McKay that followed the adventures of Batman’s first partner, Dick Grayson, AKA Robin #1.

Although this Batman character is particularly popular, especially when it comes to his solo stories as Nightwing, it remains to be seen whether or not this project is still in development or not. Even though the film has a director who seems passionate about it, the studio hasn’t provided many recent updates.

13ALMOST DEVELOPED: BATMAN: YEAR ONE

After Batman & Robin, and before Christopher Nolan revamped the Batman franchise for the better, director Darren Aronofsky was utterly keen on directing an adaptation of the graphic novel Batman: Year One.

Aronofsky’s vision wasn’t unlike Nolan’s.

Both preferred a more grounded, moody, honest, and emotional Batman film. He collaborated with the writer of the novel, Frank Miller, in order to bring the project to the treatment and outline phase for the studio to deliberate on. The main reason why Warner Bros. rejected the idea from the acclaimed director was that both he and Miller wanted the film to be R-rated and had designed it to fit that rating. Unfortunately, the studio system was not yet ready to make superhero films that were that edgy.

12IN DEVELOPMENT: THE BATGIRL MOVIE

At this point, little is known about the Batgirl movie. Unfortunately for fans of the character, the film seems to be stuck in limbo along with Nightwing and a host of other DCEU properties. At one stage, fans were excited about the fact that Joss Whedon was going to write and direct the film. After he bowed out of his duties, the film was up in the air again.

There is a script for the project. It was penned by Christina Hodson, the same screenwriter behind Birds of Prey and the Bumblebee movie. However, some rumors suggest that the film has been pushed back. The latest rumors say that DC is moving forward with a Batgirl television show. Whether or not it will have anything to do with Hodson’s script remains to be seen.

11ALMOST DEVELOPED: WOLFGANG PETERSON’S BATMAN VS SUPERMAN

Back in 2003, before Nolan’s revamp of the Batman franchise, director Wolfgang Petersen was an absolute shoe-in to take on a Batman V.S. Superman film. Peterson had pitched the idea to Warner Bros., which was keen on his approach to the characters.

The story was supposed to follow Bruce Wayne as he got married to the love of his life.

However, the Joker interferes and takes out his fiancee before the wedding. Bruce then spirals into a vengeful rage that triggers Superman to attempt to stop him. The film was eventually scrapped after the shooting dates were announced and Peterson pulled out of the project. In a way, this decision pushed Warner Bros. to make Batman Begins in the following year. Coincidentally, Christian Bale was the leading candidate for the Superman role in Peterson’s film.

10IN DEVELOPMENT: GOTHAM CITY SIRENS

Although Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn was a standout character in Suicide Squad, the film failed to live up to expectations of the fans. This isn’t uncommon for the vast majority of the DCEU films. The feeling seems to be shared amongst the studio executives who have put the future of almost all DCEU films in limbo. This includes a Gotham City Sirens film that’s been in development for a while.

However, there was recently a sign of hope for those who desire to see this movie. Director David Ayer released that he had met with Gotham City Sirens creator Paul Dini. The storyline is supposed to feature Margot Robbie’s Quinn, fighting alongside famous Batman villains Catwoman and Poison Ivy.

9ALMOST DEVELOPED: BOAZ YAKIN’S BATMAN BEYOND

During the period between Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin, and Christopher Nolan’s stellar reimagining of the Caped Crusader in 2005’s Batman Begins, many filmmakers took a shot at creating Batman properties in hopes that they’d be the ones to breathe life into a character made dormant by Schumacher.

Boaz Yakin, the man behind Remember the Titans, was tinkering around with a live-action, cyberpunk version of Batman Beyond. He later revealed in an interview that he didn’t really have the passion for it and that’s the reason why he bailed on the project after only completing a single draft of the script. He also claimed that it would have had similar elements to Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man film due to the fact that both Peter Parker and Terry McGinnis are teenagers when they embark on their quests.

8IN DEVELOPMENT: BATMAN HUSH ANIMATED

Although the DC Extended Universe has been particularly unreliable these days, Warner Brother’s animated department seem to be pumping out quality Batman films far more regularly. According to DC Comics, an animated version of the famous Batman comic Hush will be released sometime in summer 2019. The original 12-part novel, released in 2002, featured a large chunk of Batman’s most famous arch-enemies but also introduced a figure from Bruce Wayne’s childhood, Tommy Elliot. Elliot would turn into a master of disguise named “Hush” who is dedicated to bringing down Bruce at all costs.

The storyline is particularly emotional, and has a cool visual style.

Therefore it makes perfect sense that it will be made into an animated feature film.

7ALMOST DEVELOPED: THE WACHOWSKIS’ YEAR ONE

Due to the fact that Darren Aronofsky’s outline for Batman: Year One that was too violent and edgy for Warner Bros., the studio searched for a replacement. Year One already had legs and the studio was desperate to revive the franchise after the Schumacher mess, so they needed someone who could both do something respectable with it and make it marketable.

Warner Bros. turned to the Wachowskis, who were hot off the enormously successful Matrix sequels.

The first Matrix, starring Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, was and still is, one of the most beloved films of all time. Therefore, there’s no doubt the Wachowskis would have been a good choice. The studio liked their proposal but ultimately went with Christopher Nolan who came in with a different vision altogether.

6IN DEVELOPMENT: THE JUSTICE LEAGUE V.S. THE FATAL FIVE ANIMATED

Without a doubt, Marvel has the upper hand on DC when it comes to the current slate of motion pictures. Sure, one could argue that DC’s films of the past, such as Burton’s or Nolan’s, are the strongest of all time, but right now DC is living in the shadows. However, its animated slate has consistently been strong and seems to have no issue pumping out a few Batman and Justice League cartoons every year.

It was announced that fans will be receiving a new Justice League animated film in spring 2019. In this DC Universe original film, Batman and the League will take on the Fatal Five, a gang of 30th century supervillains; Mano, The Persuader, The Emerald Empress, Validus, and Tharok.

5ALMOST DEVELOPED: ADAM WEST’S NEXT BATMAN

For years after his smash-60’s television show, Batman actor Adam West had been adamant about returning to his role. He also voiced his dislike of the Tim Burton Batman films in an interview with Rolling Stone, calling it “Robocop in Gotham City”. Since Warner Bros. wanted to move away from the campy style of the ’60s Batman series and film, West penned his own movie for him to star in.

The film would feature a retired Batman living with Robin in the desert.

A new villain would then arrive, forcing the Dynamic Duo back into action. By the sounds of West’s description, the film would have been overly convoluted and quite silly. As much as we all love Adam West, it’s probably for the best that this film wasn’t made.

4IN DEVELOPMENT: JARED LETO JOKER MOVIE

Like it or not, it seems like the DCEU is going to push forward with another movie that will feature Jared Leto’s take on The Clown Prince of Crime. The film is reportedly going to be titled Harley Quinn and the Joker and will costar Margot Robbie as Quinn.

Though this film has been a bit up in the air due to the DCEU’s struggling and Todd Phillip’s Joker film, rumored details about the film’s plot were dropped at the end of September. These details seem outlandish enough to engage the talents of both Leto and Robbie. Leto is also set to appear as the title role in Morbius, a movie about the Spider-Man villain that reportedly won’t conflict with his duties as the Joker.

3ALMOST DEVELOPED: “JUSTICE LEAGUE: MORTAL”

During the time of Christopher Nolan’s epic Dark Knight Trilogy, Mad Max: Fury Road director Geoge Miller was keen on creating a Justice League film with a bunch of up-and-coming actors. Although few story details for Justice League: Mortal were ever released, Miller did cast Armie Hammer as Batman, D.J. Cotrona as Superman, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, Adam Brody As The Flash, and Common as Green Lantern. Talia Al Ghul and Maxwell Lord were supposed to be the villains of the piece.

The 2007/2008 writer’s strike, as well as other variables, dismantled the film altogether.

Who knows whether or not this project would have pleased fans or not, but certainly some variables caused them to have questions.

2IN DEVELOPMENT: THE LEGO MOVIE 2

One of the things you can count on is that the Lego movies will find a way to include Will Arnett’s hilariously arrogant version of Batman. This can certainly be said of the upcoming Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, which is to be released in 2019.

Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and Raphael Bob-Waksberg have penned this follow-up film which will focus on our Lego heroes as they defend themselves against the threat of DUPLO, who have made their home a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Batman will join Lucy and Emmett once more to defend Brickburg and all of its inhabitants from a force that seeks to take over. It’s expected that Batman will have a decent role in the film since his own standalone film, The Lego Batman Movie, was well-liked.

1ALMOST DEVELOPED: JOEL SCHUMACHER’S THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS

The Dark Knight Returns is one of the most iconic and beloved Batman graphic novels, so it makes sense that many directors would have wanted it to make it to the big screen. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice featured some threads from the story, as well as some visual homages, but it has otherwise not being featured as a live-action film.

Around the time of Batman & Robin, director Joel Schumacher was very interested in adapting the piece, hoping to go for a darker tone than both his critical flops, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. Though it was likely a good thing that the studio wouldn’t let Schumacher go ahead with these plans, at least he was considering a more adult piece as well as hoping that Michael Keaton would reprise his role.

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Which of these canceled or in-development Batman films do you want to see the most? Let us know in the comments below!

Microsoft has just announced a new Xbox One S console bundle aimed at Minecraft gamers or those who may be interested in playing the hit video game for the first time.

Named the Xbox One S Minecraft Creators Bundle, this pack comes with an Xbox One S console, an Xbox controller, a digital copy of the Minecraft video game, 1,000 Minecoins (the Minecraft in-game currency), the Starter Pack DLC (which contains the Greek Mythology Mash-up, Plastic Texture Pack, Skin Pack 1, and Villains Skin Pack), and the Creators Pack (Adventurer’s Dream Mash-up and Winter Mini-Games Festival by Noxcrew, Relics of the Privateers by Imagiverse, PureBDcraft Texture Pack by BDcraft, Pastel Skin Pack by Eneija, and Wildlife Savanna by PixelHeads).

In addition to the above, the Xbox One S Minecraft Creators Bundle will also come with a 1-month membership for Xbox Game Pass, the Xbox One’s Netflix-style video game subscription service, and two weeks of Xbox Live Gold for online play.

The Xbox One S Minecraft Creators Bundle doesn’t appear to be available for pre-order yet however it will be priced at $299. The bundle is said to be due for release “soon.”

Are you interested in the Xbox One S Minecraft Creators Bundle or do you have your eye on another bundle or maybe the Xbox One X console? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below and then follow us on Pinterest for more Minecraft content.

There’s no shortage of Xbox One S bundles to pick from out there, and Microsoft is adding another to its lineup. The new Xbox One S Minecraft Creators Bundle will hit store shelves “soon” for $299 (£249) and includes a whole lot of extras to help you get started on your Minecraft adventure.

For the basics, the bundle includes a 1Tb Xbox One S, a controller, and a download code for the full Minecraft game. Additionally, you’ll net 1,000 Minecoins, and a boatload of extra DLC packs, including:

Starter Pack DLC: Greek Mythology Mash-up, Plastic Texture Pack, Skin Pack 1, and Villains Skin Pack.
Creators Pack: Adventurer’s Dream Mash-up and Winter Mini-Games Festival by Noxcrew, Relics of the Privateers by Imagiverse, PureBDcraft Texture Pack by BDcraft, Pastel Skin Pack by Eneija, and Wildlife Savanna by PixelHeads
Lastly, the bundle packs in a one-month trial for Xbox Game Pass and a 14-day trial for Xbox Live Gold.

There’s no release date set for the bundle just yet, but it’ll likely land in time for the holiday season.

“Minecraft” is one of the most popular games in the world, and the second highest-selling game of all time.
Despite its wild popularity, even “Minecraft” struggled to find players on Apple’s set-top box, the Apple TV.
As such, “Minecraft” is dropping Apple TV support and will receive no future updates. If you already own the game, you can still play it, but it’s no longer up for sale.

You can play “Minecraft” on pretty much anything: Your phone, your game console, your computer, and even your tablets.

But, as of the recent past, you can no longer play “Minecraft” on Apple’s popular set-top box, the Apple TV.

That’s because the wildly popular “Minecraft” — the second best-selling game of all time, just behind “Tetris” — couldn’t find enough players on Apple TV to be worth the investment.

“We need to reallocate resources to the platforms that our players use the most,” a pop-up states when you launch the game on Apple TV. It’s a dire statement about gaming on the Apple TV; “Minecraft” on Apple TV was introduced to much fanfare under two years ago. It was played by so few people that Microsoft, which owns and produces “Minecraft,” discontinued support as of September 24.

apple tv
Apple/Business Insider
So few people were playing “Minecraft” on Apple TV, it seems, that most news outlets didn’t notice it was being discontinued until this week.

That reality stands in stark contrast to Apple’s supposed push into gaming with the latest iteration of the Apple TV (pictured above). The company made a whole show of gaming on Apple TV during a presentation in September 2015 — three years later, and there’s been little progress.

And now, “Minecraft” is dropping support.

But if you’re one of the few people playing “Minecraft” on Apple TV, don’t despair: The game will continue functioning for the time being. “You can continue to play ‘Minecraft’ on Apple TV, keep building in your world and your Marketplace purchases (including Minecoins) will continue to be available,” the in-game note says.

But perhaps you just want your money back? If you bought the game (or anything in the game) in the last 90 days, Microsoft is offering a full refund through Apple.

It’s been nine years since the initial release of Mojang’s Minecraft and four years since the two-billion-dollar buyout from Microsoft. Now, the Swedish developer has made snippets of the source code “open source.”

In a Minecraft Blog post titled, “Play with Minecraft’s inner workings”, the company released two libraries of the game’s code. The aim is to make other developers or up-and-coming programmers utilize these two libraries and use them in their own projects. Due to the libraries being MIT-licensed Mojang has stated that anyone will be free to “contribute and… help improve our game engine.”

The two libraries are called “Brigadier” and “DataFixerUpper“. The first is described as a, “command parser and disperser” while the latter’s main purpose is “incremental building, merging and optimization of data transformations… [to convert] the game data for Minecraft: Java Edition between different versions of the game.”

The release of Minecraft’s code may not be too exciting to anyone who is strictly a player of the game, but the ease-of-use this gives to programmers and mod developers is indescribable.

Mojang do plan on adding more libraries to this collection in the future. If you wish to download Brigadier and DataFixerUpper, go to Mojang’s Github page (It’s been nine years since the initial release of Mojang’s Minecraft and four years since the two-billion-dollar buyout from Microsoft. Now, the Swedish developer has made snippets of the source code “open source.”

In a Minecraft Blog post titled, “Play with Minecraft’s inner workings”, the company released two libraries of the game’s code. The aim is to make other developers or up-and-coming programmers utilize these two libraries and use them in their own projects. Due to the libraries being MIT-licensed Mojang has stated that anyone will be free to “contribute and… help improve our game engine.”

The two libraries are called “Brigadier” and “DataFixerUpper“. The first is described as a, “command parser and disperser” while the latter’s main purpose is “incremental building, merging and optimization of data transformations… [to convert] the game data for Minecraft: Java Edition between different versions of the game.”

The release of Minecraft’s code may not be too exciting to anyone who is strictly a player of the game, but the ease-of-use this gives to programmers and mod developers is indescribable.

Mojang do plan on adding more libraries to this collection in the future. If you wish to download Brigadier and DataFixerUpper, go to Mojang’s Github page (It’s been nine years since the initial release of Mojang’s Minecraft and four years since the two-billion-dollar buyout from Microsoft. Now, the Swedish developer has made snippets of the source code “open source.”

In a Minecraft Blog post titled, “Play with Minecraft’s inner workings”, the company released two libraries of the game’s code. The aim is to make other developers or up-and-coming programmers utilize these two libraries and use them in their own projects. Due to the libraries being MIT-licensed Mojang has stated that anyone will be free to “contribute and… help improve our game engine.”

The two libraries are called “Brigadier” and “DataFixerUpper“. The first is described as a, “command parser and disperser” while the latter’s main purpose is “incremental building, merging and optimization of data transformations… [to convert] the game data for Minecraft: Java Edition between different versions of the game.”

The release of Minecraft’s code may not be too exciting to anyone who is strictly a player of the game, but the ease-of-use this gives to programmers and mod developers is indescribable.

Mojang do plan on adding more libraries to this collection in the future. If you wish to download Brigadier and DataFixerUpper, go to Mojang’s Github page (https://github.com/Mojang)

A new Minecraft spin-off game will delve into the blockworld as a dungeon-crawler in 2019, developers Mojang announced this weekend during their MineCon fan event. Minecraft: Dungeons is its name, and whacking monsters is its game. Inspired by “classic dungeon crawler games”, they say, it’ll send up to four players to whack and stab and thwipp and zap through Minecrafty levels and monsters, grabbing whatever loot’s not nailed down. Have a peek in the announcement trailer below.

“We’ve taken the combat mechanics of the core Minecraft game and turned it into an adventure game in which you fight monsters, explore environments, find treasure, and earn even better equipment,” Mojang chief creative officer Jens Bergensten explained.

That sounds a bit weird consider Minecraft’s combat is pretty eh, even after several updates aimed at improving it, but who am I to argue with one of the biggest games in the world? It’s not for me, and that’s fine.

Minecraft: Dungeons will visit new environments not seen in Minecraft before, complete with new monsters and new bosses.

The game slated to launch to launch some time in 2019. Mojang just say “PC” rather than specifying a version of Windows, so fingers crossed it won’t be one of Microsoft’s Windows 10 exclusives? Microsoft may own Mojang nowadays, but they do seem to keep them on a slightly longer leash than some other studios.

Minecraft has already spawned an episodic story doodad spin-off in Telltale’s Minecraft: Story Mode. Despite Telltale’s recent massive layoffs, that is supposedly still being converted to a magical interactive movie for Netflix.

Minecon this year (and last) was a livestreamed virtual event, rather than the days-long physical convention as it started as. MineCon Earth, they call it. The full thing is archived on YouTube for folks who want to watch.

Disclosure: Our weekend editor, Jay Castello, sometimes writes for Minecraft’s website.

Fortnite wasn’t the first game to start the cross-play conversation: it was actually Minecraft. You may remember Microsoft announcing the Better Together update for every system but the PlayStation 4, because back then the Japanese giant wasn’t playing ball. It’s slowly opening up its doors, and while it’s currently only running a beta test in Epic’s behemoth Battle Royale, the expectation is that more third-party titles will eventually utilise the feature.

So what’s the deal with Minecraft, then? Here’s what a spokesperson told Windows Central this week: “We are supportive of new scenarios that enable more people to play and have fun together while gaming. We would love to bring players on PS4 into our Minecraft ecosystem as well but have nothing further to share at this time.”

It’s a bit of a non-statement, and to be honest there may still be sticking points with this series in particular. Microsoft, rightly or wrongly, requests that anyone playing Minecraft’s big cross-play focused Bedrock Edition signs into an Xbox Live account, which Sony could very well reject. The company does accept third-party logins for EA Sports and Ubisoft titles, but this is a direct competitor and thus a different kettle of fish.

We’ll see.

Minecraft is still going, still strong, and still relevant – the creative playground sees over 90 million monthly users, according to Microsoft.

Microsoft’s $2.5 billion (£1.9bn) purchase of Mojang back in 2014 was a huge sum to pay for what was, in essence, a one-game studio. But it’s paying off: in 2018 alone the monthly player count has increased by around 20 million.

With all this ongoing success, talk inevitably turns to a sequel – but Microsoft’s head of Minecraft, Helen Chiang, told Business Insider it doesn’t make sense for the game or community: “It’s something that always fractures the community,” she said.

“We don’t want to ask [players] to move from Minecraft 1 to Minecraft 2,” she explained, “We want them to just enjoy Minecraft. And there’s other ways that we can expand that are more meaningful and authentic to what we want to be, rather than just releasing another iteration in the way that most other franchises do.”

Said ‘other way’ refers to Minecraft: Dungeons, the first new game developed in-house at Mojang since the original Minecraft’s release in 2011. It’s not a sequel, and it’s not the sort of thing Mojang would expect to eat into the 90m-plus player base.

While Minecraft’s numbers are still gigantic and it is managing to maintain interest even as it approaches a decade in age, the relative new kid on the block Fortnite is hot on its heels with dozens of millions of players a month for Epic’s battle royale.

Although a bit slowing as of late, the Fortnite effect is still very much in full swing and although the game’s contemporaries have long left the proverbial board, there’s still one name that can take Epic’s beast head on – Minecraft.
Epic recently revealed that Fortnite racked up almost 80 million players in a single month, which is truly a number to behold. Trudging along behind the hype scenes is Minecraft, which has more than 90 million monthly players.

Minecraft’s track record speaks for itself – the best selling PC game of all time and second best selling game ever, second only to Tetris, the mother of all best selling games ever. To be fair though, if someone could count the number of pirated Tetris games, we’d probably never even come close to that record but I digress.

Unlike Fortnite, Minecraft runs on everything and can be a pretty soothing experience, so it’s easy to see where the popularity comes from. Epic are trying something similar with the Playground mode and while it’s very fun, expecting it to mimic Minecraft would be a tall order.

Nevertheless, Fortnite is approaching 80 million fast and I wouldn’t put it past Epic to see this record broken by the end of the year. After all, the game’s frequent and flashy tournaments can actually change your life fortunes in a match, a carrot that Epic’s been dangling for a while now and to great success if I may add.

Minecraft’s fortunes are a bit mixed and the Story Mode will be the last thing the troubled Telltale Games will pull off before officially closing its doors. Not that it will affect the game though, as Minecraft is sure to trudge along for many a year more.

Epic GamesA glowing cube propping up an island in the air from FortniteFortnite: Battle Royale, Season 6

With many players enquiring as to the possibility of Minecraft 2, the game’s head honchos stressed that the community is growing ever closer and that the game is still where it needs to be. No need to change the winning formula we guess, especially if it runs on potatoes as well – fun doesn’t care.