Hello everyone!

Hello everyone! It’s been awhile since you’ve heard from us, so we wanted to shed some light on what has been going on behind the scenes here at Mineplex and answer some questions that have popped up over the last few months.
In the coming weeks, we expect to launch the first public iteration of the Mineplex Studio. This will allow those of you who have been eagerly awaiting the chance to build your game on the Mineplex network the ability to get started as we round the corner to our launch window. There were over 50 projects that applied to be in the closed alpha of the studio, which caused us to prioritize getting the studio out to the public before our beta so you all had a chance to get started making your dream games. We have had a few philosophy changes since we last talked about the studio after watching some of our developers tackle the alpha:

1. Studio Partners wished to use their own game libraries and SDKs from projects they have worked on previously. We want to adapt to your model as developers, not force you to use ours. Different developers have different processes that they make for themselves, we don’t want to forcibly change your process so we will be letting you all use your own game libraries and SDKs.
   
2. While we are dedicated to maintaining a fair and competitive environment for both playing and development, we recognize that an oversaturation of duplicate games may negatively impact the player experience on Mineplex. After thorough deliberation and discussions both internally and externally, we have decided to adjust our approach to duplicate games. Going forward, the Mineplex team will consider whether a proposed game is a duplicate during our review process before it is greenlit for production. We strongly encourage game studios to innovate by adding unique twists to popular game genres and to engage with us throughout the development process. This will maximize the likelihood of their games going live on Mineplex.
   
3. As mentioned above, there will be a review process for any studio project before it goes live on the Mineplex server. This is to ensure compliance with Mojang’s EULA and our publishing guidelines, which will be made available at the same time as the studio public alpha release. These guidelines are designed to maintain structure within the network, protect our players, and safeguard our studios. If you have any questions or concerns about whether your project will be approved, we are committed to maintaining open lines of communication to facilitate the launch of as many projects as possible via our Studio Partner Discord.
   

Our payments system as well as our server orchestration are completely finished and ready for live production. Several of our games are finished, among them are Cake Wars, Skywars, Micro Battles, OITQ, and Super Smash Mobs (which will be coming to bedrock for the first time). Other games have made tremendous progress, among those are Survival Games, Clans, and Speed builders. Some new long form titles like Civs have also been in development for quite awhile now. We have so many amazing things that we are getting ready to show you all, we can’t wait to deliver on them.

One of the most frequently asked questions we've received is whether player data will be retained following the server reset. When we acquired the assets from the previous ownership, the data was mere hours away from being permanently erased. By the time we gained access, we discovered that the servers had not been properly shut down, partly due to their age and partly because the account was delinquent. We managed to salvage whatever remained after the servers were restarted. However, there is a nonzero chance that some or all of the player data may have been corrupted or lost. We are currently uncertain about the exact status of the data. We have located the production database containing player data, including the database files. However, we have not yet been able to allocate the necessary engineering resources to verify the state of the data and attempt its recovery.

We aim to be as transparent as possible about the state of your data as we explore our options. Unfortunately, this damage occurred before we purchased the assets, and we had no control over it. While we would prefer to retain old stats and ranks, our new business model will not depend on selling ranks, as we will not be offering them. We need to be upfront about the reality of this situation.

Due to the expedited nature of our acquisition of the Mineplex assets and our initial expectation of retaining the Bedrock partnership contract, we quickly assembled a team to restart the server as soon as we acquired the Mineplex intellectual property. However, it soon became apparent that the majority of the existing Mineplex code was unusable, prompting us to enter a period of restructuring aimed at forming a team capable of leading a successful rebuild. During this transition, a mismatch in expectations among team members led to a mutual decision to part ways with some of our colleagues. We have since doubled the size of our existing team and remain dedicated to addressing some of the most complex and transformative challenges in our industry. We are actively seeking talented individuals passionate about solving unique problems and making impactful contributions. You can apply here. 

Many of our Bedrock players have been inquiring whether we will be featured again upon our launch. We are pleased to report that we have been in communication with Mojang for about six months now, and we are encouraged by the progress. While nothing is finalized yet and we are not at liberty to share further details at this moment, we are confident in the product we are developing. We look forward to sharing more information with all of you soon and we’re very grateful for how understanding and helpful Mojang has been to us throughout this entire process!

To provide some clarity on our previous announcements and the reasons behind our delays, we would like to share our thought process with you. When we acquired the assets from the previous company last June, the Bedrock featured server contract with Mojang was included as part of the deal. However, we were not initially aware that the previous owners had violated this contract, resulting in the termination of the contract before we took ownership.

After we took over, Mojang informed us that we would need to undergo the approval process as a new entity at a later date. This unexpected situation led us to shift our focus to what we could accomplish in the Java space, targeting a temporary beta release during last year’s holiday season. As we approached the launch of this beta, Mojang reached out to us about initiating the process to re-enter the featured server program. We decided the best course of action was to delay our beta, refine our games further, and start this reapproval process as promptly as possible. 

We want our players to understand that we are not the Mineplex of old, with vast resources and strategic reserves accumulated from over a decade of operations. Instead, we are a dedicated team, working tirelessly from the ground up, funded exclusively by our pre-sale efforts and personal investment, to deliver a sustainable product. Securing Mojang's support would not only reduce our business risks but also enable us to reconnect with the majority of the Mineplex player base. Consequently, we decided as a team that the best course of action was to delay our beta, further refine our games, and undergo the vetting process again.

This decision led us to postpone the beta and focus our efforts during the traditionally slow multiplayer period from January to May. Over the past six months, we have enhanced our tools, polished our games, and made significant progress toward a release that will surpass what would have been possible last December. We recognize that this is not the news many of you were hoping for, as many of you wish to see the network revived immediately. However, we are committed to ensuring that our launch reaches and reflects the quality and care our players deserve, honoring the legacy of Mineplex.

We will reach our goals with your continued support and patience. Thank you all for your understanding as we navigate these challenges. We remain committed to delivering a product that justifies your most valuable investment—your time.

Thank you all so much for bearing with us, expect to see a first look at gameplay as we round the corner and things develop more.
The Mineplex Team

Mineplex is reimagining the Minecraft multiplayer landscape to create an innovative new platform for anyone, aspiring game developer or veteran studio, to publish their own Minecraft games quicker, cheaper, and easier than ever before.

Read more about the upcoming Mineplex Studio here.

Help support our vision by exploring the wares on offer below!