Mojang Rejects Generative AI, Emphasizes Creativity in Minecraft

Minecraft developer Mojang remains steadfast in its commitment to eschew generative artificial intelligence from its game development process. As the use of generative AI in game development becomes increasingly prevalent, evidenced by Activision's use of AI-generated art in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Microsoft's development of Muse—an AI tool for generating game ideas—Mojang stands firm in its preference for human creativity.

Despite being a subsidiary of Microsoft, Mojang shows no interest in adopting its parent company's AI technologies. This stance is rooted in the belief that the human touch has been instrumental in making Minecraft the best-selling game of all time, with a staggering 300 million sales. Agnes Larsson, the game director for Minecraft Vanilla, emphasized this during a recent event attended by IGN, stating, "Here for us, just like Minecraft is about creativity and creating. I think it's important that it makes us feel happy to create as humans. That's a purpose, [it] makes life look beautiful. So for us, we really want it to be our teams that make our games."

Ingela Garneij, executive producer of Minecraft Vanilla, further elaborated on this philosophy: "For me, it's the thinking outside of the box part. This specific touch of: what is Minecraft? How does it look? That extra quality is really tricky to create through AI. We even try to have remote teams sometimes and guide them in building things for us, which has never worked, because you have to be here working together face-to-face. I mean creativity is... you need to meet like this as a person, as a human to really truly understand the values and principles and the ecosystem, the lore, everything. It's so massive Minecraft, it's a planet, it's massive."

Mojang's dedication to human creativity continues to propel Minecraft forward. The upcoming graphics update, Vibrant Visuals, is set to enhance the game further, and Mojang remains resolute in its decision not to transition Minecraft to a free-to-play model. This commitment to refining and expanding the original game aligns perfectly with Mojang's philosophy of not developing a "Minecraft 2." Despite being 16 years old, Minecraft shows no signs of slowing down, and generative AI is notably absent from its development process.

For more details on what's in store for Minecraft, be sure to check out everything announced at Minecraft Live 2025.