Players have been recreating their favourite scenes and characters from Star Wars in Minecraft for more than a decade now, so it was only a matter of time before two of the world’s biggest entertainment properties came together in an official – and no doubt galactically profitable – capacity.
Gone are the days of painstakingly constructing a scale model of the Death Star trench sequence one brick at a time. With the new Minecraft Star Wars DLC, players can jump into premade dioramas of iconic locations from across the original Star Wars trilogy and The Mandelorian series, including the likes of Hoth, Endor and not one, but two Death Stars.
What’s more, they can sculpt out their own pixelated corner of LucasFilm’s universe using specially made blocks and textures, choosing whether to build in peace in creative mode or fend off the Empire in survival mode.
A long time ago, in a galaxy made of blocks…
The DLC comes courtesy of Scottish developer 4J Studios, who have offices in East Linton and Dundee. 4J Studios have overseen a number of Minecraft crossovers, including a Toy Story and Adventure Time pack, and have also released a Scotland’s Clans and Castles pack that includes working trebuchets with which to pulverise our nation’s famous landmarks.
A particularly interesting feature of 4J’s Star Wars pack is the introduction of flying vehicles to Minecraft in the form of X-wings and starfighters. Previously players had to turn to mods (or, if they were especially clever, use an exploit involving slime and piston blocks) in order to take to the skies. Now any Minecraft fan can hop into their spaceship of choice and gaily plow into the side of an AT-AT or cruise towards Tatooine’s beautifully blocky double sunset.
While the release of this DLC in conjunction with the new series of The Mandalorian was somewhat of a surprise, it wasn’t entirely without precedent. For one, Microsoft scored an exclusive Star Wars skins pack for Xbox versions of Minecraft soon after acquiring Minecraft developers Mojang back in 2014, and have since produced a Solo: A Star Wars Story pack. Secondly, an extensive Jurassic World DLC pack was released for Minecraft earlier this year, igniting speculation about what the next major film franchise tie-in could be. Let’s hope Studio Ghibli’s next on the docket.
Download the Minecraft Star Wars DLC here.