Minecraft Cracks Down On Brand Promos (By Banning Them)

Minecraft maker Mojang has banned servers and mods that exist only to promote a product that is unrelated to Minecraft itself. In a statement today, Mojang's Owen Hill said that the existence of such promos "doesn't feel right, or more importantly, fun." As such, Mojang has updated its Commercial Usage Guidelines with a new section, doing so while reassuring users that it won't "affect the usual server and video monetization."

The company has seen organizations promoting their causes through mods and servers, and companies advertising whatever their products are. According to Mojang, the new rules will primarily affect corporations and agencies, and so if you're a Minecraft player, the only thing that will change for you is less exposure to unwanted advertisements.

Mojang isn't unhappy that some people are making money through Minecraft, but rather that in some instances "the purpose of a Minecraft mode or server" because that promotion or advertisement. Though you'll want to read the full guidelines if any of this possibly applies to you, here is the short of it.

You, whether you're an individual or a company or an organization, can't do things like build a server or mod that in some way hawks your unrelated products in "playable form," with the example Mojang gives being a mode that adds a rendition of your restaurant in Minecraft. Likewise, studios can't advertise their movies or TV shows, or the trailers for them. The exception is when users themselves want to make things related to these things (an effigy representing your favorite movie, maybe) out of love, which is allowed as long as there's no foundation of corporate interest involved.

SOURCE: Mojang