Reforj is a sandbox survival game from former Minecraft console devs
Former Minecraft console developers 4J Studios has announced Reforj, a fresh spin on the blocky sandbox survival game, with exploration, crafting and discovery at its core.
Reforj is being built on the studio’s new in-house Elements Engine, which has been designed from the ground up to enable voxel-based graphics and a sandbox that you can bend to your will, as well as online multiplayer. The studio had announced the Elements Engine a few months ago, though has now confirmed that it’s Reforj that they’re building within it.
The game is currently in a pre-alpha stage, but 4J are keen to start building a community around their project and will build it alongside their feedback.
4J Studios spent the better part of the 2010s bringing Minecraft to consoles, with a hand in the original 360 release, then PS3, Xbox One, PS4, PS Vita, Wii U and the initial Nintendo Switch edition of the game. However, their time working on the game came to an end as Mojang decided to move on from the console editions that they had produced, aiming to unite the player base on Minecraft: Bedrock Edition instead – something not universally pleasing to fans, it should be said.
Of course, there’s pretty much no way that Reforj can really contend with the vast player base and mindshare that Minecraft has built up, as one of the best-selling video games of all time, but 4J Studios could absolutely carve a little niche out from that and still be very successful. The key will be striking a balance between familiarity to Minecraft’s core formula, making adjustments and improvements to that, and introducing new idea of their own.
Source: press release
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