Minecraft Legends is Mojang Studios and Blackbird Interactive's new upcoming title — while we wait for the action strategy game to launch into Xbox Game Pass later this year, let's go through everything we know so far...
Minecraft Legends is set to be one of the biggest games coming to Game Pass this year — we've put together a round-up of everything we know so far.
We're constantly updating this article whenever new info comes to light, so you'll always be able to find everything you need to know about Minecraft Legends right here! Last update: March 15th, 2023
Minecraft Legends: Everything we know so far
Minecraft Legends
The piglins’ Nether corruption is spreading across the Overworld, scorching everything it touches. Are you the hero who will protect this gentle land? Plan your strategy and face the piglins in epic battles – but be warned: they always fight back. Take on piglin bases by day and defend your allies after dusk. Explore lush biomes filled with treasures and perils, meet new friends, and reunite with familiar mobs. With the allays by your side, all that’s left to do is save the world.
Experience an epic legend from the Minecraft universe and the Overworld as you’ve never seen it before
Form alliances with new friends and familiar mobs, then lead the charge in epic battles against the fierce piglins to defend the Overworld
Traverse a lush, dynamic world that’s rich in resources and different in each playthrough
Challenge your friends or team up in intense battles as you defend your village while leading your units to destroy your opponents’ settlements
Minecraft Legends Deluxe Edition
Raise your banner high with the Deluxe Edition, featuring six additional in-game skins: one hero, four mounts, and an additional mount skin when it becomes available.
The piglins’ Nether corruption is spreading across the Overworld, scorching everything it touches. Are you the hero who will protect this gentle land? Plan your strategy and face the piglins in epic battles – but be warned: they always fight back. Take on piglin bases by day and defend your allies after dusk. Explore lush biomes filled with treasures and perils, meet new friends, and reunite with familiar mobs. With the allays by your side, all that’s left to do is save the world.
What is Minecraft Legends?
Minecraft Legends is an upcoming strategy game from Xbox Game Studios team Mojang Studios and Blackbird Interactive.
What's the Minecraft Legends release date?
Minecraft itself continues to be massively popular (we’ve also ranked it on our list of the best games on Game Pass), and it looks like Minecraft Legends is set to be one of the biggest releases of 2023 when it launches on April 18th.
Is Minecraft Legends coming to Game Pass?
Yes — Minecraft Legends will join Game Pass and PC Game Pass at launch on April 18th.
What’s it about?
The big threat in Minecraft Legends are the piglins — we’ll be fighting to defend the Overworld from their Nether corruption. “According to the legend, only you can bring together the mobs of the Overworld and help them defend their home,” Mojang says. Minecraft Legends will present something of a “utopia” where all the creatures of the Overworld get along, and where we can join together with mobs to fight the piglins. “The events you will take part in are neither fact nor fiction; they are simply part of a tale that has been passed down from villager to villager. There are no records or evidence of the great hero that raised their banner to save the Overworld — all that remains is a powerful legend.”
Lead narrative designer Rees Savidis expands on this, adding, “we aren’t necessarily saying that this is the history of the Overworld, what we’re trying to convey with this story is that it is one of many stories of the Overworld. It’s a possibility. It’s a ‘what if’... like all great legends, they start maybe with a kernel of truth but as those legends are passed down and the stories are told and retold, the teller will embellish certain details and the story will start to evolve. So classic Minecraft players know that ‘mobs = bad’ or ‘mobs = villains’ in vanilla Minecraft, but here they’re allies. And if people are asking, you know, is that fact, did that really happen, you know we’re not saying that that’s exactly what happened, but maybe it did.”
Will Minecraft Legends be on Xbox One?
While some Xbox first-party games like Forza Motorsport and Redfall are heading just to Xbox Series X|S, Minecraft Legends will be available on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.
What's the world like?
We know Minecraft Legends revolves around saving the Overworld from Nether corruption, and the Minecraft Legends team dove into more detail about the Overworld in a recent blog post, noting that we'll be looking to traverse the land and view it from a strategical perspective: "Instead of playing block by block, you get to play thought by thought — turning your ideas for structures into reality in seconds instead of minutes... of manual labour."
It seems we first arrive at the Well of Fate, and can go back there to manage improvements and boost our abilities, "like unlocking new types of allies or increasing the number of allies you can rally." We can fast travel to the Well of Fate, as well as to any village fountains belonging to villages we've already been to, as long as those fountains haven't taken too much damage — Mojang says these fountains are likely to be targeted in any piglin attack. What's more, villagers will leave resources in a chest at each village fountain, so it's a good idea not to lose a village to the piglins. We can find other allay chests hidden throughout the world too. We'll have a mount to help us get around the Overworld, and can use things like speed wheat and bounce caps to go even faster. Dangers to watch out for include poison vines and rogue piglin groups — the latter apparently have valuable material lapis on them.
In the "Behind the Look" video above, one dev described Minecraft Legends as "taking the variety of flora you would find in original Minecraft and just turning it up to eleven." Another of the Minecraft Legends team added, "once we realised that we had the creative ability to put in unique animations it kind of just blew open the whole thing," referring to how Minecraft Legends will feel more alive. We'll apparently see the world feeling more lived-in, too; as lead artist Lisha Leston explains that we'll see little details like birds appearing out of the trees and little bursts of wind blowing through the land.
How does it play?
Minecraft Legends will be an action strategy game where we’ll lead and command our allies against the piglin hordes. Thing is, our allies will include Minecraft mobs we haven’t always been as pally with. The Creepers can be summoned and used to demolish the piglins' walls. The skeletons are handy as ranged allies, although they’ll also need to be kept away from the battlefield due to their more fragile form. Zombies will apparently be happy to lead the charge and soak up damage, but will need back up after a while. On that note, we’ll also be able to summon golems. Cobblestone golems are also tougher allies and can be a threat both to the piglins and their defences. Plank golems are again ranged allies who can’t take as much damage, so will likely need to be protected like the skeletons. Mossy golems can support other allies by healing them, and grindstone golems can be brought in when you need an ally to clear you a bit of space in a battle. On the piglins side of things, the grunters and the runts are the enemies who lead the charge — “there’s a million of them, and they die really quickly,” the Minecraft Legends team says. “They’re tiny guys and they offer quite a bit of comedy relief.” In the work-in-progress pictures we’ve seen so far, it looks like we could also be up against tougher piglins like bruisers and portal guards.
There’s a story campaign you can play through alone or with friends, as well as cross-platform play, online matchmaking, and a PvP mode, which brings us to…
Will PvP elements feature?
Yes, Minecraft Legends will have a PvP mode where two teams of four try to destroy each other’s bases and build their own. The piglins still feature in this mode and add extra chaos in that they’ll attack both you and your enemy alike.
“We wanted to try and create something that was relatively new. We didn’t want to take just like the Minecraft IP and slap it on like a standard RTS… the PvP is a bit of a remix of the story. It takes the kind of elements that you’ve learned through the campaign, and allows you to kind of reuse them in different ways,” the Minecraft Legends team explains. “I think the PvP component of Legends enhances the game significantly, with the procedurally generated multiplayer maps that you get… we wanted to focus on a game that was less about everything being exactly fair all the time, and kind of embracing more of a chaotic fun element to the game.”
You need to share your army and resources with your team, and can divide your time between building and upgrading defences, attacking enemy bases, searching for resources and chests, and scouting. “It’s not like your traditional multiplayer situation where you have a set few maps,” says executive producer Dennis Ries. “Every time you go to play PvP, the strategy that you want to use to win could be different than it was the game before… When we had added this procedurally generated dynamic with the variety, it really started to feel like Minecraft. The chaotic fun really shone through and we wanted to embrace that chaos.”
Do I need to have played Minecraft to play Minecraft Legends?
The Minecraft Legends team has emphasised that while Minecraft fans will likely recognise elements from Minecraft, things will still be a little different, and you don’t need to have played Minecraft to enjoy Minecraft Legends.
What will the Minecraft Legends achievements be like?
We don’t yet have the Minecraft Legends achievements, but we’ll be sure to update here when we do.
What do you think of Minecraft Legends so far? Will you be playing it on day one when it hits Game Pass this April? Let us know in the comments!