Minecraft players make the darndest things. From full-scale recreations of popular game worlds like Hyrule and the Black Mesa Research Facility to building working hard drives and phones, the possibilities seem endless.
Modders push that notion even further by developing complete original games within Minecraft. And the most notable example of late has been Pokemon Cobalt and Amethyst — a fan-developed Pokemon title completely playable in Minecraft that’s already sitting at over 10 thousand downloads a few days after release.
Other than maintaining the distinguished Minecraft blocky graphics, Pokemon Cobalt and Amethyst resembles everything you would expect from a main entry Pokemon game. The game features a full new set of 131 original Pokemon, a brand new region, and an original story. The main character begins their journey by choosing a starter Pokemon and sets off on a quest to defeat gym leaders in hopes of becoming a Pokemon master.
Created by Phoenix SC, the game has been in development for nearly three years now. Much time was spent composing an original soundtrack and scripting the story for players to unfold. On your path to becoming a Pokemon master, you slowly uncover more and more information about the mysterious Team Tempest — a cult-like organization set on controlling the Distortion World and serving ancient Pokemon. The story delves a little deeper than most Pokemon games, tackling themes such as religion, morality, and dimension hopping.
But try it soon, or you’ll miss out when it gets slammed with a DMCA…
Fan-made Pokemon games have been around for a while, dating back to 2007 with the Pokemon Essentials project for RPG Maker XP. This mod gave players an easy way to make their own Pokemon-like games. A quick Google search will show dozens of different Pokemon games in development or already complete. Many of these, however, have been taken down from their official websites through DMCA notices by Nintendo.
The most recent example, Pokemon Uranium, was removed from its official site less than a week after release. Nine years in the making, the game was downloaded 1.5 million times before being removed by creators Involuntary Twitch and JV. It featured 150 new Pokemon, along with a few dozen older Pokemon scattered throughout the region. Although the game was quickly taken down, it can still be downloaded through third-party means.
Pokemon Cobalt and Amethyst may contain mostly original content, but because of the use of the Pokemon brand, sounds, and logos, etc., a DMCA notice is practically inevitable — especially with how quickly it’s growing in popularity. Pokemon Uranium lasted a week, and similar fan project AM2R: Another Metroid 2 Remake was only officially available for one day. Nintendo fans know that the company has always been very strict with use of its intellectual properties.
This is the age of the internet, though, where even Bill Gates can’t keep embarrassing pictures of himself off the internet. And copies of these technically illegal games will float around as long as the demand is there.
What do you think about the fine line between fan creations and theft? Will you download Pokemon Cobalt and Amethyst before Nintendo brings down the axe? Let us know in the comments below!
