Telltale Games and Mojang are teaming up for an episodic adventure set in the world of Minecraft, according to this interactive press release, Info Quest II, on Mojang’s website. Minecraft: Story Mode – A Telltale Games Series is set to premiere in 2015. The game is a standalone experience, separate from Minecraft, available for download on Android, iOS, Mac, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
The adventure is set in the world of Minecraft, with its familiar themes, but introduces entirely new characters and an original story, driven by player choice. Mojang is careful to point out that Story Mode will in no way establish “official” lore for Minecraft or its default protagonist Steve.
“People really like the idea of stories about Minecraft, but forcing a narrative into our core game experience would restrict players’ freedom to view the world in their own unique ways,” explained Mojang’s Chief Word Officer Owen Hill. “Instead, letting them explore an alternate interpretation via Minecraft: Story Mode, driven by the proven might of Telltale, seems like a no-brainer.”
One of Minecraft‘s defining properties is its near total lack of any narrative. Players are simply dropped into an untamed world and left to create their own story. It will be interesting to see how Telltale’s narrative approach adapts to Minecraft‘s world of total player flexibility and creativity. Telltale’s recently launched Tales from the Borderlands similarly recontextualizes a game from a very different genre (in that case, a first person shooter) into a story-driven adventure, so the studio is no stranger to creative adaptation.
