Minecraft is Sitting On a Gold Mine of Xbox Crossovers

Minecraft is Sitting On a Gold Mine of Xbox Crossovers



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For over a decade, Minecraft has crossed over with some of gaming’s most celebrated series. While this initially began with simple, Mojang produced skin packs for Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition in 2012, crossovers in Minecraft were later expanded upon with franchise-themed mash-up packs. Ever since the first mash-up pack was released in the form of the Mass Effect Mash-up Pack in 2013, Mojang has exponentially crossed over with numerous pop culture series such as Tetris, SpongeBob SquarePants, Sonic the Hedgehog, and more. However, Mojang should strive to cross over with several Xbox franchises in coordination with several upcoming first-party Xbox games.

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The History of Xbox Crossovers in Minecraft

One of the most famous Minecraft crossovers with Xbox franchises was the Halo Mash-Up: Minecraft Evolved, otherwise known as Master Chief Mash-Up Pack, first released in 2014. Here, players were able to equip dozens of skins of numerous iconic Halo characters and beings, from the self-sacrificing Noble Team to common Covenant Grunts.

Additionally, players can transform their existing worlds by using the Halo Mash-Up texture, coating every item, mob, and user interface with a classic Halo sci-fi touch, such as wolves turning into Promethean Crawlers or paintings turning into red and blue team flags. Upon purchase of the Halo Mash-Up Pack, players can explore a new Halo world filled with recreations of several famous campaign locations and multiplayer maps all while iconic Halo music is played in the background.

However, the Halo Mash-Up pack wasn’t the first Xbox franchise to crossover with Minecraft, retroactively speaking. In 2013, Mojang released the Skyrim Mash-Up Pack filled with skins, textures, locations, and music based on The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. In 2016, Mojang released the Fallout Mash-Up Pack filled with renowned skins, textures, locations, and music from games across the Fallout series, such as Fallout 1 and 2’s Vault 13 and Fallout 4’s The Prydwen.

While both the Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises weren’t owned by Xbox at the time of those Mash-Up Packs’ releases, both are now a part of Xbox Games Studios after Microsoft purchased Bethesda Game Studios in 2021.

14 video game developers are currently a part of Xbox Games Studios, including:

  • The Coalition
  • Compulsion Games
  • Double Fine Productions
  • Halo Studios
  • The Initiative
  • inXile Entertainment
  • Mojang Studios
  • Ninja Theory
  • Obsidian Entertainment
  • Playground Games
  • Rare Limited
  • Turn 10 Studios
  • Undead Labs
  • World’s Edge

Potential New Minecraft Xbox Crossovers

Xbox currently has several first-party games expected to release later in 2025 or are currently in development. These include but are not limited to Avowed, Doom: The Dark Ages, Fable, Gears of War: E-Day, Perfect Dark, State of Decay 3, and The Outer Worlds 2.

While none of these games have official, definitive release dates, save for Avowed, which is scheduled to release in mid-February, Mojang and Microsoft could collaborate to make Mash-Up Packs for each of these franchises to increase interest in the new games. If these games are notably successful, Mojang could also make Mash-Up Packs for these games after the release of their latest entry, so that the Mash-Up includes aspects from entire series’ such as a Fable Mash-Up including features from Fable 1, 2, 3, and the 2025 reboot.

Gears of War could be a popular crossover with Minecraft, given that Gears of War is closely associated with Halo as one of the most popular Xbox exclusive franchises. Similar to the Halo Mash-Up, Mojang could create a world filled with several recreations of famous locations from across the Gears series, such as the Locusts’ underground Hollow from Gears of War 2 and the island Azura from Gears of War 3.

It can additionally include some skins, textures, locations, and music from Gears of War: E-Day, such as skins of young Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago. Mobs can also be retextured to appear as iconic Gears enemies, such as Zombies and Skeletons appearing as Lambent Locust and humans, Spiders as Corpsers, and Wardens as Berserkers.

Minecraft Crossovers with Older Xbox Games

Mojang and Xbox could additionally collaborate and make Mash-Ups or simple skin packs of prior first-party Xbox games such as Ori, Banjo-Kazooie, Viva Piñata, Psychonauts, Sea of Thieves, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Viva Piñata, while it hasn’t received a new entry since 2008, could make for a fun, farming-themed Mash-Up in Minecraft with colorful piñata mobs.

Psychonauts could use its mechanic of psychics traveling into people’s mental worlds to create portals that travel to some of the series’ most fantastical mindscapes. A Minecraft Indiana Jones Mash-Up could include both skins and locations from the Great Circle as well as features from the five Indiana Jones films, such as the Temple of the Chachapoyan Warriors, Temple of the Sun, and Temple of Akator, traps and all.

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