Netflix Dives into the Blocky World: Minecraft Becomes the Latest Animated Series

Netflix, the biggest streaming platform worldwide, has announced an exciting new animated series based on Minecraft, the best-selling game of all time, celebrating its 15th birthday this year. The announcement was made during an anniversary celebration, accompanied by a short teaser trailer.

Image source The Economic Times

The teaser opens with a green creeper character from the game creeping into the centre of a black screen before exploding in a pixelated grey cloud. As the fog clears, the camera zooms into an underground cavern filled with lava. The scene ends with the iconic red Netflix "N" logo appearing on a volcanic rock, followed by the words "Netflix x Minecraft."

Image source MSN

A caption below the video reads: "This just happened: The best-selling game of all time & the biggest streamer in the world are teaming up to bring you a brand new Minecraft Netflix animated series.

Netflix has promised that the show will feature an original story with new characters and more information that will be released soon. This announcement comes when video game adaptions are gaining popularity in Hollywood. The recent successes include the Mario Bros Movie, The Last of Us, and Fallout, which has reversed the trend of video game adaptations being critical and commercial failures. Netflix succeeded with animated versions of beloved games, such as the anime inspired by the Castlevania series, Cyberpunk: Edge Runners, and the League of Legends spin-off Arkane. Additionally, a Minecraft movie starring Jack Black as the character Steve is set to hit cinemas next April.

Image source Video Games on Sports Illustrated

In the broader gaming world, Xbox maker Microsoft bought the rights to Minecraft in 2014 for $2.5 billion. Microsoft also owns, Bethesda the studio behind the Fallout series, which saw a significant increase in players after Amazon released a show inspired by the games. Despite Minecraft already selling 300 million copies, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has focused on f keeping players engaged with the company's games, and tie-ins with film and TV are one way to achieve that.