The team that made Minecraft console edition is now making their own blocky builder

Reforj Pre Alpha Gameplay - October 2024 - YouTube

4J Studios has revealed Reforj, their upcoming open-world multiplayer survival sandbox for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. 4J Studios previously worked on Minecraft Console Edition, bringing the iconic builder to millions more people.

The first look at Reforj is a short, pre-alpha gameplay trailer (read: very, very early in development) that shows how players will glide across the land using a wingsuit to leap from taller places and drift to lower ones—or take a short cheeky hop down a sloping cavern space. 4J says that Reforj will take place in "procedurally-generated voxel worlds filled with exotic creatures and strange new elements."

The trailer also shows off how players can sculpt individual voxel blocks in order to cut them into different shapes, such as curved surfaces, using the built-in tools that let you have a bit more creative freedom than the baseline survival-craft block placing game (read: Minecraft).

"Survive in ever-changing environments where danger lurks around every corner. Delve into caves for greater resources but watch out, the further down you go the more unexpected surprises you might encounter," said 4J in a press release.

Reforj will be powered by 4J's proprietary Elements Engine, which they revealed a few months back on their YouTube. They crux of Elements Engine is that it claims to harness "the incredible power of the newest generation of consoles and graphics cards" for greater speed and capabilities—including in physics, apparently—of the hardware. The preview video of the engine shows stuff like dynamically scattering birdflight, high-speed world rendering for high-speed travel, and dozens of blocks breaking up into falling pieces.

4J Studios describes itself as "the team that brought Minecraft to consoles and created some of its most memorable minigames and content packs."

You can find Reforj on Steam and on its official website.

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.