What you need to know
- Minecraft Legends is an upcoming action-strategy game from Mojang Studios and Blackbird Interactive.
- During the debut Xbox Developer_Direct show, the Minecraft Legends team revealed a new PvP-focused presentation.
- Minecraft Legends' PvP mode will feature cross-platform online matchmaking and procedurally generated maps.
- Minecraft Legends is also confirmed to be releasing on April 18, 2023, with preorders now available for players.
Minecraft Legends is one of Microsoft's biggest first-party releases of 2023, and it looks to be an exciting addition to the expanding Minecraft universe. Hailing from a partnership between Mojang Studios and Blackbird Interactive, Minecraft Legends made a big appearance during Wednesday's Xbox Developer_Direct show with a new PvP focused, trailer and an official release date.
The six-minute trailer shown during Xbox Developer_Direct features some of the developers working to bring Minecraft Legends' unique action-strategy gameplay to life, and shares a ton of new information and footage of what players can expect from its competitive multiplayer PvP. Minecraft Legends features two firsts for the Minecraft universe — an expansive, open-world single-player campaign with online co-op, and an enigmatic player-versus-player mode with cross-platform, online matchmaking. Now, the latter is a little less mysterious.
Minecraft Legends' PvP mode will pit two teams of up to four players against each other in a random, procedurally generated world. That means every session is completely different. Teams will need to work together and use their combined resources and armies to defeat their opponent's forces and destroy their base, all while defending their own. This includes exploring the world, collecting resources, designing and building a strategically fortified base, protecting from Piglin invaders, and raising an army capable of dominating any threat.
The new trailer proves how vital communication will be for victory, with players needing to work side-by-side with their teammates to come out on top. It also highlights Minecraft Legends' legitimate strategy props, with practically endless options available to players when either attacking or defending. There seems to be a lot of freedom when building your bases, with players able to construct a huge variety of different buildings like the powerful, long-range Redstone Launcher or the anti-siege air defense tower. Players can even build multiple bases and forward camps to help out-maneuver their opponent.
Xbox capped off the trailer by announcing that Minecraft Legends is officially releasing on April 18, 2023, for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PCs, PS5 and PS4, and Nintendo Switch. You can read our ultimate Minecraft Legends guide for all the information you need to know ahead of the game's release, and you can preorder the game directly from Xbox using the link below. You'll also find some new screenshots of Minecraft Legend's campaign and multiplayer.
Windows Central's take
While flying under the radar for many due to the overwhelming pressure of more prominent upcoming releases like Starfield and Redfall, Minecraft Legends continues to be one of my most anticipated games of 2023. Everything new I've seen of Minecraft Legends indicates this has every chance of being a truly unique, stand-out title for the Xbox ecosystem. When Windows Central's Jez Corden previewed Minecraft Legends in 2022, he concluded that everyone should keep their eyes "firmly trained" on it.
After the Xbox Developer_Direct showing, my excitement for Minecraft Legends hasn't abated a bit. I'm genuinely interested in trying the multiplayer PvP mode, despite my general disdain for a lot of competitive online games, and I can't wait to explore the open world. Fortunately, I now know exactly how long I have to wait, and Minecraft Legends is releasing right on schedule in just a few months. If Mojang Studios and Blackbird Interactive are able to meet the expectations laid out by the handful of trailers we've seen, Minecraft Legends could easily become one of the best Xbox games of the year.
Minecraft Legends is a first-party Xbox Game Studios title, and that means it'll be available through Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Cloud Gaming from day one. When Minecraft Legends arrives, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will be the best way to play it.
