Always Building: NewRise

Minecraft is constantly expanding - both the game itself and the community that plays it - and we are continuously overwhelmed by the sheer ingenuity of our players, who create things we never thought were possible on a daily basis.

To celebrate this we invited some of our favourite build teams to contribute their skills to a single map. YOU voted on what they make. We’re now down to the final build team! Soon you'll be able to download the finished map that combines everything that's been built - so keep your eyes peeled in the new year!

Last time, Deep Academy took on a futuristic theme, with a mirrored dystopian and utopian tower! This week we’ve invited the incredible NewRise to build on the theme of Winter - as chosen by you!

Check out the video above and the interview below to see how they interpreted your challenge! Thanks so much for voting and being a part of this fun campaign.

While lots of build teams actively recruit members with the ambition of becoming a build team, the NewRise crew emerged naturally from friendships forged while playing Minecraft.

“During the life of the team, we’ve tried many styles and themes for our maps,” says team member Yougo. “We made some huge and epic builds that were possible only in the game, but we also tried some realistic builds, inspired by real civilisations. One of the builds we are most proud of is our Thanasys map, a giant Greek-themed city we built during six months. It was an incredible project to create a city that feels real and could be used by players in survival. You don’t need to be able to fly [in Creative mode] to properly explore the map, and you can go inside every house, unlike many build maps.”

But what about their part in the Always Building project? How did they choose to interpret the Winter theme?

“We chose to represent a frozen fountain because it really shows how beautiful and yet hard winter can be,” says Yougo. “We spent a lot of time figuring out how to create a build that rises to the top, like a flower trying to reach the sun.”

NewRise mostly builds for fun these days, rather than to impress. “We stopped ‘try-harding’ some time ago,” says Yougo. “Now we just build projects we want to create, like Harry Potter-inspired builds for example.” But, Yougo says, their commitment to creating cool stuff in Minecraft is undiminished. Keep an eye on their Planet Minecraft page and you’ll see just how true that is!

Once again, huge thanks to all the build teams who took part in this project and everyone who voted! Maybe you’ll see Always Building return in the new year!