Notch has unveiled plans for supporting Minecraft mods in the future. Players will need to sign up as a "mod developer" to download the source code and create their own mods. Originally, Notch posted that each team would need to pay a fee for the privilege, but due to "overwhelming feedback" the license will now be released for free.
Read on for the details.
Notch originally specified that "The cost of signing up makes sure that only serious developers gain access" to the certificate. People weren't happy about that.
Later Notch attempted to defuse the wrath of the internets by highlighting that: "The access cost won't be prohibitively expensive and if you make a good mod or something else based on the source code, it's highly likely we will want to license it."
But the internet was EXTREMELY ANGRY. Notch updated his blog with another post saying "Because of overwhelming feedback, the cost of the mod api access will be 0 dollars. Our intention wasn't to make money off selling the access, only to ensure some level of quality. Obviously that wasn't the most popular idea in the world. ;)" He the asked if he could "Go back to working on the maps now?"
Notch's earlier post included a few more specifics. Whether these will be changed to reflect the pricing change is yet to be confirmed:
- Mods must only be playable by people who have bought Minecraft
- You can't sell your mods or make money off them unless you've got a separate license deal with us
- The mods must not be malicious (obviously)
Despite the freedom, Mojang will still retain the right to take mod ideas and implement them into Minecraft. According to the developer that's "To prevent the situation where we have to avoid adding a feature just because there's a mod out there that does something similar. It's also great for dealing with bug fixes provided by the community. It's possible we might have a mod marketplace for selling and buying mods that fans have written, or we might purchase and integrate nice mods that fit the main theme of Minecraft."
Do you love Notch as much as Tim? Prove it. He's bought him a (real-life) beer, and describes him as a "beardy Minecraft genius."
