Since I started covering the Minecraft Marketplace, one thing I’ve learned is that many of the community creators have spent years working on their content. While the Marketplace is under a year old, it’s not strange to find people who have done this for four or five years, like creator Flavien Sphax who is one of the primary people responsible for the PureBDcraft comic-book resource pack for Minecraft.
PureBDcraft is one of the best-selling pieces of content in the Minecraft Marketplace. It changes the look of nearly every object in the Minecraft world to give it a comic-book makeover. While it is extremely popular on the Marketplace today, it started as a mod way back in January 2011.
“I’m just a mix between an artist and a developer,” Sphax explained in an email exchange with GamesBeat. “I have passions and dreams, and I do my best to reproduce the ideas coming from those in my work. That’s maybe why PureBDcraft had success on day one, at least, I hope so.”
Sphax is 34 years old, and he partnered with fellow community creators Hanfox and Eskimojo14 on PureBDcraft. In a past life, he worked as a project manager in “big French enterprises” — but now he’s all in on BDcraft and other personal projects.
“I quit my job in 2013 to be fully dedicated to my own passions,” he said.
Those passions include improving PureBDcraft as well as creating other resource packs and mods. He is also actively developing Cubik Studio, which is a 3D modeler for Minecraft and other indie games. Sphax also plans to launch his own games at some point in the future.
But one of his biggest passions through the years was getting PureBDcraft into Minecraft as an official resource pack similar to the downloadable content you would find on the console versions.
“Back in the day, I did my best to nudge some guys at [developer] Mojang so I could have a chance to discuss with someone who could help me bring PureBDcraft to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3,” said Sphax. “That was my main goal at the time. I tried email, Twitter, and Minecon Paris without real success. In fact, I did it all wrong — I’m not a community manager or a marketing boy.”
Four years later, though, Microsoft reached out to Sphax to talk with him about PureBDcraft.
“I was truly excited,” said Sphax. “After several exchanges with the The Minecraft Team about the specifics of PureBDcraft — mainly its HD textures — and several Minecraft updates, PureBDcraft was ready for the Marketplace.”
This is where Sphax always felt that PureBDcraft belonged. He and his collaborators were able to get the resource pack ported to the Bedrock version of Minecraft, and they’ve updated it over time to get it as close to their original vision as possible.
He has now expanded his focus beyond PureBDcraft. The team has multiple projects in the works, but he welcomes feedback and even bug reports from people who purchase it through the Marketplace.
“By the way, I’m open for dialogue,” he said. “So if anyone wants to talk with me about Minecraft, BDcraft or indie games, they are very welcome. Many people don’t hesitate to do that already knowing my Twitter DMs are open.”
You can reach Sphax at @#Sphax84 or @PureBDcraft, and you can find his creations in the Marketplace or at BDcraft.net.
“Making Pure or any BDcraft content or project come alive by creating anything new for the player to discover is a true passion and a dream which came true,” said Sphax. “Every time I draw or develop something new, it reminds me why I quit my job and why that’s the best thing I ever did in my life before my son was born.”
PureBDcraft is available now in Minecraft on Xbox One, Xbox 360, Windows 10, and mobile — it’ll hit the Switch when the Marketplace launches on that platform later this year.
PureBDcraft’s four-year journey onto the Minecraft Marketplace