I have a lot of strong opinions on the minecraft ecosystem. I remember the days of Lightstone and hMod to Craftbukkit and Spigot, and all the drama in between. I started doing server work seriously back around 2013 as an independent contractor. I think a lot of people don't realize the startup ecosystem in servers. A well monetized server, with cycling content, and some YouTube personality to endorse could easily have a MRR of 10K+ with very little investment. Larger servers even have offices and competitively paid engineering positions, in spite of Mojang's resistance to the model; the whole decade was very strange.
I think it's under-appreciated how much both modding communities, the client side and server side, dragged the game though through the last decade when it felt like the company's efforts to get a grasp on the situation ended up stifling potential.
I'm following Hypixel's project Hytale which seems like it may become a heavyweight in the scene. It sounds like the design intentions have everything that the community of the last 10 years was looking for, and with a team behind it that respects those desires. If the proposed platform of Hytale existed even 5 years ago, it would have honestly been a dream for myself and other modders that were already running servers hosting hundreds of thousands of players in aggregate. If they commit to letting users host their own server, I really think this is the future of the genre. There was a post on HN not too long ago about how Minecraft was the Metaverse and I agree, but it seems like Hytale will fit that role much better.
I recall they partnered with RiotX Arcane, and were eventually acquired by Riot Games, so I believe Riot sees the potential there as well. I'm looking forward to what they end up releasing.
I think it's under-appreciated how much both modding communities, the client side and server side, dragged the game though through the last decade when it felt like the company's efforts to get a grasp on the situation ended up stifling potential.
I'm following Hypixel's project Hytale which seems like it may become a heavyweight in the scene. It sounds like the design intentions have everything that the community of the last 10 years was looking for, and with a team behind it that respects those desires. If the proposed platform of Hytale existed even 5 years ago, it would have honestly been a dream for myself and other modders that were already running servers hosting hundreds of thousands of players in aggregate. If they commit to letting users host their own server, I really think this is the future of the genre. There was a post on HN not too long ago about how Minecraft was the Metaverse and I agree, but it seems like Hytale will fit that role much better.
I recall they partnered with RiotX Arcane, and were eventually acquired by Riot Games, so I believe Riot sees the potential there as well. I'm looking forward to what they end up releasing.