Minecraft is now 15 years old and will soon reach a whole new audience when its live action film releases in April 2025. With Minecraft's millions of players sure to make the movie a financial success, it’s now the perfect time for Mojang Studios to return to an old spinoff to capitalize on the film: Minecraft: Story Mode.

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A Telltale Minecraft Story

Minecraft has never been a story-focused game. Rather, it’s more of a sandbox for players to make their stories in. There are teases of lore hinted at with setting storytelling through the Nether and strongholds, but that was all the story Minecraft had to tell for most of its lifespan. That was until Telltale released one of the first Minecraft spinoff games, Minecraft: Story Mode Season 1, in 2015.

An episodic, point-and-click game, Minecraft: Story Mode told an original story about a group of friends as they struggle to save the world from a rampaging Wither Storm monster and eventually become heroes of their very own. The game received moderate reviews and was successful enough to get a second season released in 2017. However, a lot of elements featured in Story Mode didn’t actually appear in the main Minecraft game and never returned.

The Minecraft Movie and its Potential Impact

With the Minecraft movie on the horizon, Mojang has the potential to make an improved Story Mode based on the film's plot. Little is known of the movie’s plot currently, but in 2019 Mojang released a brief story snippet for the movie. The film would have focused on a girl and a group of adventurers as they attempt to save their world from the destructive Ender Dragon. This version of the movie was originally slated for release in 2022. Over the years, the movie's directors and writers changed frequently, so it's possible that the plot may go in a different direction from the 2019 version.

One thing that’s for certain is that the movie will tell a story involving the game’s original mascot, Steve. Jack Black will play Steve in the film. Based on this concept, the movie could be used as a prequel of sorts to the original Minecraft: Story Mode seasons, although it's more likely that a video game adaptation of the movie would stick to its own canon.

Jack Black’s co-stars in the Minecraft movie include Jason Momoa, Emma Myers, Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, Jemaine Clement in unknown roles and Danielle Brooks as a character named Dawn and Sebastian Eugene Hansen as a character named Henry.

Minecraft the Movie the Game

In terms of gameplay, a Story Mode-style adaptation of the movie could keep the point-and-click nature of the Telltale games when in dialogue or exploring areas, but allow players to have more control in action sequences rather than simple quick time events. Oftentimes, in the original Story Mode games, the only action seen was watching Jesse dodge arrows and wield a sword, while the player themselves would only click or mash a button. A more elaborate gameplay system could help the player have more authority in the game and keep people playing.

While details of the movie are still slim, the movie and the new Story Mode game could feature elements not seen in the Telltale games. Minecraft has had several updates since Story Mode first released in 2015, adding several new mobs, biomes, and items such as the Warden and End cities. Both the movie and the game could highlight these elements or simply include them as background Easter eggs. They could even add elements from other spinoffs like Minecraft Dungeons and Minecraft Legends such as regal tigers or whisperers.

The Minecraft Movie Must Keep The Ball of Great Game Adaptations Rolling

With recent video game adaptation success stories, from Amazon Prime’s Fallout show to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Mojang has the opportunity to continue this trend with a great Minecraft movie. It could help ensure Minecraft's longevity and lead to the return of Minecraft: Story Mode in a new, more polished form.

If both are successful, Minecraft may finally receive a story worthy of its millions of fans. It may even continue for several sequels and expand the world of Minecraft for years to come and in new ways never seen before.