If you've heard of Minecraft, you've probably heard of MINECON - Mojang's ever-popular annual Minecraft convention which had previously been running since 2010. The conventions typically showcased new game features, costume contests and tournaments.The events also hosted many popular Minecraft YouTubers who were able to hold their own presentations and interact directly with their fans.
Despite the event's popularity, today Mojang has announced that MINECON as we know it will no longer exist. Though the convention has previously taken place all over the world, the company has decided to move away from physical venues for future conventions. Instead, they've decided to opt for an annual interactive live online event called MINECON Earth.
While this move will undoubtedly disappoint some of Mojang's more hardcore fans, the company justified the decision by explaining the difficulty of hosting a growing Minecraft community while maintaining the "friendly, intimate community atmosphere" of previous MINECON events.
At the very least, an interactive online event will allow more people to get involved than ever before. Tickets to previous events have sold out within hours and travel costs likely deterred many fans from bothering at all.
Despite Mojang's desire to stick to livestreaming events from here on out, they want to retain some sort of physical MINECON presence to allow their fans to meet up with each other and enjoy the event together. As such, the company will be supporting a few popular community-led events from the folks over at Minefaire, Minevention and Blockfest.
More information on MINECON Earth can be found on the official event page. The convention will be going live on November 18 starting at 17:00 GMT.