I distinctly remember when Minecraft fever first took hold of the world. I was still in school when the original alpha version first dropped, and seemingly overnight, the internet as I knew it was covered in pixelated blocks. The cornerstone of this major pop culture takeover was, arguably, the game’s most infamous mob NPC, the Creeper. I started seeing Creepers around before I knew what Minecraft even was, and to this day, the Creeper’s mere face remains one of the game’s major logos.
However, according to current Mojang CEO Jens Bergensten, the Creeper only works in Minecraft because it’s been there since the beginning, and we all know how to deal with it, more or less. In a recent video posted to the official Minecraft YouTube channel, in which Bergensten and Minecraft creative lead Cory Scheviak divulged some secrets about the game’s design, Bergensten admitted that, were the Creeper added today, it probably wouldn’t go over well.
Jens Bergensten Says Creepers Would Be “Controversial” Nowadays
As anyone who has played even a little Minecraft can tell you with vitriol, the Creeper’s entire purpose in the game is to cause you grief, to destroy the things you’ve put so much time and effort into designing and building.
“As far as I know, the community has a hate-hate relationship with the Creeper,” Scheviak said with a laugh.
“Even to this day, it’s one of the monsters in gaming I’m still a little bit afraid of,” Bergensten admitted. “If we were to follow the rules we have today, we would probably not add the Creeper because it would be so controversial to have a monster that would show up and just destroy what you’ve built.”
There’s definitely some truth to that. If Minecraft had existed from the very start as a game exclusively about building with no mass-destruction mobs, adding the Creeper at this point would undoubtedly drive people bonkers. Still, we put up with the Creeper because, as I said, we’re just used to it.
“The Creeper is very iconic, though,” Bergensten said, chuckling.
Minecraft
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 90/100 Critics Rec: 84%
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- LWJGL, PROPRIETARY ENGINE
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Minecraft
- Number of Players
- 1-4
- Split Screen Orientation
- Vertical or Horizontal
- Platform(s)
- 3DS, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360
- Genre(s)
- Sandbox, Survival
- How Long To Beat
- 129 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- No
- File Size Xbox Series
- 1.42 GB (August 2024)
- Metascore
- 93
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
