Mojang hires mod team to build official Minecraft API

Minecraft creator Mojang announced Tuesday that it has hired the four-man team behind the Bukkit server mod to create an official Minecraft API. The Bukkit mod, which began development back in 2010, allows users to more easily set up custom multiplayer servers for Mojang's game. Now that the Bukkit team is officially part of Mojang, the developers will make a new, more robust API that offers better support for both servers and modifications. "Many of you may ask why we decided to work with Bukkit instead of other Minecraft teams, such as Spout or Forge," said Minecraft lead Jens Bergensten in a recent blog post. "The reason is that we want more than just modding, and these guys have always had server admins in mind when developing their additions to the game." For the foreseeable future, the existing Bukkit mod and community site will remain active, though Mojang hopes to provide an easy solution for players to switch to the official API after its release. In the meantime, the company will try to ensure that Bukkit remains compatible with the upcoming Minecraft version 1.2. In addition to the new hires, Mojang announced that the company's business director, Daniel Kaplan, will become Minecraft's official project lead, which will allow him to better coordinate the future of the title. Bergensten, meanwhile, will maintain his position as the game's lead developer and designer.