Finally, rumors turned out to have been true after all. Having been a subject of countless whispers in the gaming world, the announcement of infamous Minecraft content creator Tubbo joining Mojang Studios has created an endless void of speculation on what this would do to Minecraft. The cryptic tweet from Tubbo saying, “The rumors were true…,” followed by a picture that looked like the Mojang office, was the confirmation that everybody had been whispering in the grapevine for weeks.
In a community that has always kept an unusual relationship with its content creators, this is huge news for the Minecraft community. While in many games developers do not interact directly with the player community, Minecraft for ages has lived on the symbiotic relationship between the developers and the people who play (and now stream) it. Inducting someone like Tubbo in this way is a major paradigm shift in how studios will approach the community going forward.
Predictably, the Tubbo fans began to go wild. Comments ranged from heartfelt congratulations and disbelief and from a user screaming “WHAT THE FUCK” in all caps, basically the voice of the common sentiment. Then, another one asked if this was an early April Fools prank, while others rushed in to speculate on what “insider information” Tubbo would now have access to.
Enough jokes were in the mix with the actual excitement. A user commented, “Tubbo on his way to work at Mojang: 🗿,” which is practically perfect. Another joked that we can’t believe “Mojang is adding Tubbo to Fortnite,” which got a really good chuckle out of me. In between such big gen news, the community has not lost its ability to be funny.
But not all were celebratory. One user aired what sounded like legit concerns. Some unresolved Minecraft issues have been affecting PS5 players since update 21.101: the login system, realms, world starts, add-ons, and skins. They said that people are still paying for Realms (Minecraft servers) that they can’t even cancel for a lack of access, so hiring streamers shouldn’t exactly be a priority when there are actually game-breaking issues needing to be fixed. And you know what? They’re right for saying that.
Tubbo is a part of the broader Dream SMP community, one of whom has been instrumental in bringing about the rise of popularity in Minecraft. Having someone from that world actually working at Mojang is a distinction that bridges the gap between developer and one of the dedicated player bases; therefore, this is quite an excellent step, from a community relations standpoint. That said, it did raise serious questions about how much praise content creators really deserve in game development.
There were plenty of comments advocating to have Tubbo, in his new role as a developer, start whispering update ideas in the ears of the devs, which honestly doesn’t sound like a bad idea. Who better to suggest improvements than someone who’s put thousands of hours into playing the game and has an intimate knowledge of what the community truly wants? Though maybe some of those suggestions, like including a “piss cow,” won’t garner him many votes for the forthcoming update.
This now leaves the question of what this hiring means for Tubbo’s streaming career. An apprehensive fan caught on and asked, “Did Mojang hire you??? What does this mean for future streams?! 😔, which is indeed a serious question. Trying to juggle a full-time development job and being a highly active streamer sounds…hard…to say the least. Another joked that it was “the best job ever you don’t have to do anything just sit at the office and get tons of money,” which is funny, but probably not true.
Official Twitch accounts going in on this only add more fuel to the fire of this story. Twitch UK & Ireland entered the fray with a hoary bit of insider trading banter, asking if Tubbo had “heard of” some website, with other users further joking about “insider trading.” All in good fun, but it’s a good illustration of just how unconventional an appointment this is for the gaming industry.
This vacancy is interesting for the reasons that start to shed light upon game studios starting to recognize that content creators are more than just marketing partners. Obviously, bringing huge influencers from the community into the development process for games that represent their player bases should yield some awesome results. What is a concern are conflicts of interest and the very possibility of a streamer losing what little critical distance they kept once they entered the pay grade.
Of course, it is still anybody’s guess as to what Tubbo will actually be doing at Mojang. The announcement was characteristically vague, so everyone was left wondering whether his focus is on game design, community management, or some other role revealed at the last minute. A user dared to demand, “what’s your first order of business for Minecraft” but got no response in return. The thriller continues.
That could mean a new generation of Minecraft, with the boundaries between player and developer being blurred even more. Or that could be yet another fabulous honey pot for the PR that will not interfere with how the games are actually made. Only time will show where it truly lies. So many talking points are lying around awaiting the Minecraft community.
One must not forget about the peculiarity of such a breaking announcement on social media. It seems to give credence to the idea that Mojang has started taking a more informal and community-oriented approach to how they announce big news, which is quite fitting with Tubbo’s persona and, by extension, the whole Minecraft vibe. This isn’t corporate PR -this is a content creator doing something huge for his community.
No matter how it pans out, one thing does stand out-the rapid changes happening right before our eyes at the intersection of game development and content creation made Tubbo’s hiring at Mojang one of the biggest shows of changes ever. A brave new world is unfolding, where those playing the games may soon have their hands in making games; either a scary thought or something to really look forward to.
Long live Tubbo and his new career; might he fix that PS5 bug one poor user was complaining about? There’s always the chance of “piss cow” making it through after all. Stranger things have happened in the world of Minecraft development.
