In an announcement that is sure to make Minecraft fans everywhere cry out mounds of blocky tears, Brandon Laatsch, the fan behind the Kickstarter Campaign for Birth of Man: A Minecraft Film has canceled his project due to legal issues behind the film’s development; with Mojang, the game’s independent developer stopping the campaign in its tracks.
No Deal? No Dollar
When pressed for answers on his Twitter page, the creator of Minecraft, Markus Persson, known by gaming fans worldwide as, ‘Notch’ was quick to defend his company’s decision:
We don’t allow half a million kickstarters based on our ip without any deals in place. :/
— Markus Persson (@notch) February 7, 2014
Before being canceled, Laatsch’s campaign managed to raise an impressive $63,980 from its more than one-thousand backers; putting a noticeable dent in the project’s ultimate goal of $600,000 for a movie he claimed would, “blend live-action cinematography with physically constructed Minecraft-style blocks and premier visual effects to tell a story of adventure, revenge, and creation – the likes of which has never been seen before.”
A Minecraft Film in the Future?
For those unfamiliar with with the situation, Laatsch’s lack of communication with the crafting Mecca’s developer isn’t all that shocking; considering Mojang’s decision to turn a blind eye to other’s use of their intellectual property over the course of the game’s mega success on sites such as Youtube. However, previous projects failed to match the ambition featured in Laatsch’s vision, a vision that would’ve perhaps launched a movement of Minecraft-inspired films throughout the internet, an avenue Mojang-itself may want to venture through someday once the timing is right.
So, with Birth of Man scrapped, all we can do now is look back at what could’ve been, while simultaneously hoping Mojang sees the massive interest that a film based around their wonderful world could generate.