Gamelab 2011: Mojang's Scrolls To Follow Minecraft Launch Strategy

At the Gamasutra-attended Gamelab 2011 in Barcelona, Spain, Mojang Specification's Daniel Kaplan dropped a few new details about the future of its hit online game Minecraft, and the studio's next project, Scrolls, which was revealed at the last GDC. "With our new game, Scrolls, we'll follow the same formula as Minecraft," said Kaplan. "That means we'll release the game very early," at the minimal playable state. He said this means something different for every game, of course, but people will be able to pay for it, play it, and give feedback from a very early stage. This also means frequent updates, he said, which need to be properly communicated to players, because community involvement is one of the most important elements of Minecraft. At present, the Scrolls team is five people. "That sounds like a small team, but it's very big for us," he says. Minecraft was by and large created by one developer, Markus Persson. "One thing that means is we're going to have to outsource art," he added. Minecraft is coming to Xbox Live Arcade, iOS, and Android, but the XBLA version, developed by UK-based 4J studios, will be very different from the PC version, said Kaplan. "I don't think we can have the exact same experience because of the lack of a keyboard, so we're going to do a complete overhaul of the user interface, and make sure it works on a 360 controller." Lastly, Mojang has previously mentioned it's interested in getting into publishing (or co-publishing) titles from other indie developers. Kaplan clarified the company's aims. "We're looking for people with a similar structure [to Mojang]," he said. "People who are very passionate about what they're doing. We're also looking for games that last longer, and treat games as a service, like Minecraft does." "And of course, [they need to have] passion," he added. "A lot of people join the game industry because of passion, but you should also learn that that's what it takes to stay there."