Mojang has confirmed that alongside Minecraft Legends co-op support for its campaign, there's also an exciting 4v4 competitive multiplayer mode. While Minecraft has a reputation for being a family-friendly cooperative experience, longtime players will be very familiar with its potential for high-stakes competitive action, too. It seems that Mojang wanted to bring that experience to Minecraft Legends, too, partnering with Blackbird Interactive to deliver a separate PvP mode for the upcoming action-strategy game.
Blackbird Interactive may not be a name that everyone is familiar with. The studio is best known for its work in niche genres, with real-time strategy games like Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, Crossfire: Legion, and the upcoming Homeworld 3 as examples. While Minecraft Legends is difficult to directly compare to those RTS titles, it's easy to imagine Blackbird's multiplayer and competitive play experience being carried over into its work on Xbox's upcoming game.
The Developer_Direct presentation for Minecraft Legends focused entirely on the game's PvP mode. Mojang says that the 4v4 multiplayer game mode will serve as an accompaniment to Minecraft Legends' single-player campaign, which can be played entirely with 4-player co-op. A briefly shown menu reveals that there will be public matchmaking for the PvP mode, though players will also be able to invite friends or do friend-only matches. It's unclear whether players will be able to queue, or if there will be any deeper organization for the mode other than casual play.
In the Minecraft Legends 4v4 game mode, players compete to destroy their opponent's base. Each team will actively play both offense and defense. On offense, players can gather allies to build armies and attack opponents' forces. On defense, players can build defenses and fortifications to stave off attacks. Of course, players can use their allied soldiers for defense and constructions for offense, too. All four players can play aggressively or defensively, as they wish.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of Minecraft Legends' PvP mode is that the setting for each match is entirely procedurally generated. Just like with Minecraft's biomes, players could find themselves in a swamp, desert, or forest. The biome could be mountainous or flat. Players will be able to take advantage of the environment in more ways than one.
Whether players are grouping up cooperatively or competitively, Minecraft Legends is looking to be just as social of an experience as its predecessors in the Minecraft franchise. It's still a unique direction for Minecraft, one few expected. As such, Minecraft Legends will have to prove itself based on its own qualities. It's undeniably doing some exciting and creative things, though, and is worth continuing to watch up to its April 18 launch.
Minecraft Legends releases April 18 on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.