6 reasons why Minecraft is losing players

Minecraft has been around for over a decade, and when it comes to relevance, it still stands strong where other games have long crumbled. With the Minecraft 1.21 update coming soon, the game has retained players and their interests. But recently, the game has seen a mass exodus of players, and while these trends are common, players have some substantial reasons for losing interest in the game.

Here are six reasons why the game is losing players and how it can fix it.

Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinion.

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Minecraft’s loss in popularity

Activeplayer showing the number of Minecraft players (Image via Activeplayer)

According to the statistics website Activeplayer.io, Minecraft’s total player base is slowly shrinking. As one can see from the image of the gained/lost players, a substantial amount of players are losing interest in the game. In the last month, the game lost a staggering 13 million players. But that’s not all.

Google Trends showing people's interest in Minecraft (Image via Google Trends)

A graph from Google Trends shows how popular the game has been over 12 months. There is a revival of interest around mid-July before the numbers dwindle again.

Minecraft trending searches (Image via Google Trends)

The trending terms about the game show that the rise in popularity is just because of the updates that create some buzz around the game. Other than that, the game is failing to hold players. Here are the six reasons behind it.

1) Slow updates

The updates take too long (Image via Mojang Studios)

Mojang Studios releases a major update once a year. This year, it's the 1.21 update that brings a lot of things to the game. Items such as the vault, trial chambers, and the new mob Breeze are some things added to the game.

But while the updates keep the game interesting, many feel that the wait is too long for too little. Waiting an entire year just for two mobs makes no sense when the modding community adds hundreds of items in a few months.

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2) Tough competition

It is not the only good game out there (Image via Mojang Studios)

New games are released every year. This includes indie games and triple-A titles such as Fortnite, Rocket League, Terarria, etc. With so many options available, players often find themselves drawn to other games, opting to put Minecraft on hold until new features or mobs are introduced.

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3) Minecraft tedium

Minecraft can get boring after some time (Image via Mojang Studios)

The game does not have a story mode. This lack of story mode means that players can follow no linear line. Instead, they just do whatever they want to in the game. This freedom gives the game its charm but can lead to monotony after some time, as players may struggle to find new goals or objectives to pursue. Eventually, tedium soon turns into boredom, which results in the player leaving the game.

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4) No proper spin-off

Minecraft Legends was ambitious, but it failed (Image via Mojang Studios)

Mojang has tried multiple times to launch a spin-off that would be able to capture the essence of the original game yet deliver something fresh and unique. However, all the spin-offs have failed to become successful like the original game.

Multiple versions of the game allow it to stay relevant and fun since it becomes a whole suite of games instead of just one stand-alone game. Fortnite is currently going that route, and so far, they have been quite successful in being relevant when most battle royale games are seeing a drastic decline.

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5) Lack of content

Lack of exciting things to do in Minecraft (Image via Mojang Studios)

The statement that the game lacks content might seem counterintuitive, especially considering the developer's ongoing efforts to introduce new content regularly. Recently, they announced the addition of trial chambers, adding an entirely new location with its challenges and rewards.

So, how can the game lack content? Perhaps a better understanding of it would be this: The game’s content lacks depth. Most of its items have limited use, and even though the developer adds new items to the game, they should focus on developing the already present items and mobs.

Here’s a simple yet effective example: Cows can be used to provide meat and milk. They also drop leather, which is used to make leather items. But that’s all the use of cows. Nothing else.

It would be interesting if Mojang added a way of using the cow for farming more efficiently. They could be used with carts to collect the grown food items ready to harvest. It’s a crude example, but it drives the point across.

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6) No interesting game mechanics

Minecraft lacks interesting mechanics (Image via Mojang Studios)

Redstone is the only item with impressive properties and can be used to make interesting things. For example, recently, a player made a fully functioning Minesweeper inside the game. But apart from that, there are not many great mechanics in the game that lets players enjoy making different things.

Redstone is the only thing that can be worked with, but it requires a lot of expertise and understanding, which can be tedious for many players. But apart from that, every other item is just there. Most blocks are just for decoration, limiting the game’s potential. Other items, such as the felching table, have no use, and even the villager trading system is outdated and dull.

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Perhaps Mojang will understand the problems and make the changes that revamp the game and make it enjoyable. But till then, this is the best we get from Mojang Studios.

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