Minecraft Legends goes into maintenance mode 9 months after release, as devs announce they're 'going to take a step back from development'

Four player characters on horses in front of a stone brick strategy tower. — (Image credit: Blackbird Interactive, Mojang)

Minecraft Legends, the self-described "action strategy" game that sees players command Minecraft mobs in a ceaseless war against invading Piglins, is going into maintenance mode around nine months after its release.

Developers Mojang and Blackbird announced Tuesday that they had spent their time since launch taking community feedback on board and using it to implement "changes and tweaks to make the game better." With that process now supposedly "complete," they're "going to take a step back from development," calling an end to any new content for the game following the release of its final batch of new content, Lost Legends: Snow vs Snouts.

On the plus side, that update brought "a brand-new combat style to the game" with the introduction of a new version of the redstone launcher, letting players "focus on destroying piglin bases from afar." I think that counts as the introduction of artillery; finally, Minecraft warfare enters the 14th century.

The devs also noted that the game's latest title update "brought the fearless frog, witches, clangers, air choppers and a host of enhancements to the game’s mechanics," as well as improvements to the game's Battle View UI. But it looks like that's the last thing we're getting.

There is, of course, no essential reason that Minecraft Legends should receive a long, long tail of updates, but it's hard not to think about the game's lukewarm reception on reading this news. This is, after all, a game with the mind-bogglingly popular and enormously lucrative Minecraft name on it, so you have to imagine Microsoft's hopes for it were a little loftier than this.

Alas, the game disappointed on release, likely dashing any hopes of a long development tail. In Lauren Morton's Minecraft Legends review for PCG, she scored the game 50% and criticised it for leaving out "Minecraft's spirit of invention and creativity," and she was far from alone in that feeling.

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One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.