Why did Minecraft Legends fail to become successful?

Minecraft Legends was destined for success. This spin-off had millions of players, and on paper, the game had everything any Minecraft fan would want: beautiful graphics, new gameplay mechanics, and a story mode. A month after its release in April 2023, the number of active players started dropping, resulting in what was perhaps Mojang Studio's biggest disaster.

So, why did Minecraft Legends fail despite having everything needed to become as popular as its parent title? Recently, Mojang Studios announced that Legends will not receive any content updates, meaning the company has pulled the plug.

---

The big problems

The problems with Minecraft Legend (image via Mojang Studios)

I played Minecraft Legends on the first day it was dropped on Xbox Game Pass. After a few minutes of joy and amazement at the brilliant voice acting, beautiful graphics, and the right amount of humor in the dialogues, the gameplay's staleness started to take over.

Comparison with Minecraft

Minecraft Legends is often compared to the original Minecraft (Image via Mojang Studios)

Minecraft players, including myself, expected Legends to be on par with the original game, which can never happen. The legacy could never be competed with, which was one of the reasons players didn't like the game.

Legends, sadly, couldn't offer the experience one got during their first Minecraft gameplay.

---

Boring missions and quests

The combat and missions in Minecraft Legends (Image via Mojang Studios)

Despite having great voice acting and graphics, the game lacked a fun gameplay experience. Almost all the missions, especially during the start of the game, were just traveling to some distance, protecting a village, destroying piglin bases ad nauseam.

Another reason the missions were boring was its overpowered weapon. The fun in original Minecraft comes from working your way up from the wooden sword to the vastly powerful diamond sword.

The game lets the players start with an extremely powerful sword that sweeps enemies with just a click. Combat is just repeated clicks or button mashing.

---

Trying two things at once

The combat in Minecraft Legends felt mushy (Image via Mojang Studios)

Another reason Legends could not establish its place in players’ game library was that the game was trying to be two things at once. It offered strategy-based action gameplay along with a beat-them-all aspect as well.

However, Minecraft Legends couldn't be good at any of it. It lacked strategic action while having a very mushy combat system that didn't feel impactful. It feels that Mojang Studios should focus on updating the main game rather than making new IPs.

---

No creative liberty

Building in Minecraft Legends (Image via Mojang Studios)

While the game did offer some building options, it was too restricted and guided. When compared to the original Minecraft, players can do anything in it, even build games within games.

But this game was very lukewarm in this department. Sadly, it seems like making a good Minecraft spin-off is next to impossible, and the colossal failures such as Minecraft Story Mode, Dungeons, Earth, and Legends prove that.

---

Follow Sportskeeda for the latest Minecraft news, tutorials, and guides.