Minecraft Removes Controversial 4chan Shoutout | Screen Rant
A reference to controversial image board 4chan was recently removed from Minecraft. While Minecraft is a family-friendly video game that needs little introduction, 4chan is an anonymous image board infamous for hosting controversial and illegal content.
As a survival sandbox game, Minecraft promotes creativity in its players by giving them the tools to build whatever they desire. This creativity also extends to mods, as dedicated fans create brand-new content to enhance the already massive title. A talented animator recently made a video showcasing what it would look like if Minecraft had realistic snow physics. The concept makes in-game snow behave much more naturally, building up on surfaces and then falling to the ground in a giant heap. Though such a physics upgrade may never come to the game in an update (with Caves & Cliffs being about as ambitious as it gets), the game has nonetheless come a long way from its early roots, back when no one knew Notch's political leanings and Mojang was a tiny indie developer thankful for any online exposure.
On Tuesday, Kotaku reported that a reference to 4chan was removed from Minecraft's main menu. Players know the game's title screen features a rotating selection of different splash texts, which appears in yellow in the logo's top-right corner. Since early in the game's life, one of these random splash texts read "Woo, /v/!", a reference to 4chan's video game-focused /v/ discussion board. Mojang founder Markus Persson, AKA Notch, heavily promoted the game on 4chan early in its development, resulting in /v/ getting an in-game shoutout. However, this splash text is now missing since the game's 1.17 update, which rolled out on May 27.
While the removal of the 4chan reference is a small, subtle change that few will notice, a very large change will be coming to Minecraft in the near future. The first part of the long-awaited Caves & Cliffs Update, which was first announced back in 2020, is set to launch on June 8. Caves & Cliffs Part I will add 91 new blocks and items to the game, as well as an assortment of new fauna, including axolotl companions and mountain-climbing goats.
Minecraft is more than 20 years old, so it's understandable that the game has a very long and complex history. Early in development, Mojang sought the support of influential websites such as 4chan and their users, but now the Microsoft-owned game has been able to easily stand on its own without having to invite strange bedfellows. By removing the 4chan reference, Minecraft is able to distance itself from an often controversial, very child-unfriendly side of the internet.
Minecraft is available on all platforms.
Source: Kotaku