After a change in the usage guidelines, a lot of people in the community are afraid that Mojang wants to heavily restrict Minecraft content creators. But is this really the case? Let's have a look!
Minecraft is the best-sold computer game of all time. Since its release in 2009 it has become a pillar in the video game sector. Up to this day, it is one of the most played games in the world, with more than 150 Million active players last month.
Minecrafts game developers Mojang, being owned by Microsoft since 2014, have issued an update on their usage guidelines in the past days. This resulted in a major discussion in the minecraft community.
Does Mojang Enforce Heavy Restrictions On Minecraft Content Creators?
After Mojang changed their usage guideline without any announcement whatsoever, the community was shocked reading the changes. Or to be more precise: What people interpreted the changes would result in. Discussions broke loose on Twitter and Reddit, fearing the worst.
One thing besides the main topic can be read quite often: "This doesn't feel like a Mojang EULA change, it feels like a Microsoft EULA change.". The community feels that this change wouldn't exist if Mojang isn't owned by Tech-giant Microsoft. The way of communicating feels odd, the change seems to be contradictory to Mojang's previous positions towards Content Creation surrounding Minecraft.
Some of the wild claims being made on Twitter and Reddit might lead you to believe that this guideline change will kill servers and content creators alike. The creator "Sarah Burssty" responded to these worries in a Twitter Post and the following YouTube video.
As she mentions, there are reasons to be concerned about and valid points to criticize Mojang and Microsoft for. Especially the vagueness in which the guideline change is phrased. If you are a content creator or a server owner, you could interpret certain changes to be extremely incisive.
But the question is: Would Mojang bite the hand that feeds them? I don't think Mojang will take down YouTube videos that have "Minecraft" in their primary title. If they do, they would delete billions of views, get thousands of channels banned and lose a big stream of attention for their game. Additionally, Mojang would be receiving quite a shit storm in that case that might even result in a boycott.
It seems like Mojang wants to have a clear stand against people abusing the "Minecraft" name for selling expensive guides or accessories with official branding on it or promoting Pay-to-Win servers. It would be astounding if Mojang starts to enforce their guidelines on your favorite Minecraft creators.
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