Minecraft Won't Go Free-to-Play – Mojang Sticks to Its Roots

Despite the industry’s shift towards battle passes and microtransactions, Minecraft will stay a premium game. Mojang says it’s “the best deal in the world.”

No Free-to-Play, No Battle Passes!

While other games are ditching upfront costs in favor of in-game purchases, Minecraft refuses to follow. Ingela Garneij, executive producer of Minecraft Vanilla, made it clear in an interview with IGN:

“We built the game for a different purpose. So monetization doesn't work in that way for us. It's a purchase of the game and then that's it.”

In an era where games like Overwatch 2, Destiny 2, and Halo Infinite have all jumped on the free-to-play bandwagon (often with mixed results), Minecraft is standing firm.

Why Mojang Won’t Budge

The push for battle passes, premium currencies, and live-service content isn’t something Mojang feels pressured by. Garneij emphasized that keeping Minecraft accessible is more important than chasing new monetization trends.

Game director Agnes Larsson echoed the sentiment, saying that Minecraft’s premium model is part of its core values.

“It's become such an important thing of what Minecraft is… It has strong values.”

Mojang isn’t asking players to pay extra for new content, either. The upcoming Vibrant Visuals update – bringing improved graphics – is completely free. And with no Minecraft 2 planned, the best-selling game of all time will continue evolving without forcing players to rebuy it.

Unless, of course, you want to play it on yet another device. At this point, Minecraft is basically everywhere.