This isn’t Minecraft.
It isn’t unheard of to see game clones or copyright infringement in Roblox but the latest case I came across was Minecraft. A simplified version was built in Roblox using the same name and I saw it hit as high as 25,000 players at one time. It’s one thing to have a similar concept and another to steal the name.
Update (8/14/2024):
Several Minecraft clones on Roblox are no longer available likely due to copyright infringement. After publishing this article, I noticed the Hedgehog developer had frequently changed the game’s name even going back to Minecraft. So when I checked their Discord, it wasn’t too surprising to see them post that Mojang went after them. Here’s the statement from Discord user “rat pack”,
“The game has been taken down by Mojang AB for DMCA (Copyright): using textures and having essentially the same gameplay Don’t worry! we will be looking into this!”
Roblox players visiting the Hedgehog experience page will no longer be able to play it. The title and description have been replaced with, “[ Content Deleted ]”. I’ve noticed other Minecraft clones like Squirrel, Voxels, Mineblox, and Minecraft X are now private as well.
Hedgehog developer “Bap” previously ran into trouble with Mojang for their other Minecraft game, Voxels. On June 2, 2024, Bap stated in the Voxels Discord,
“The game is currently closed as we are working on it to make it more different so it complies with Mojang’s intellectual property.”
Original Article:
When you use the same name or logo as many Roblox games do, it manipulates kids into thinking they’re playing the official game. Even before you bring up copyright or trademark issues, you’re taking advantage of kids with heavy monetization that they may not understand. While the most popular one just changed its’ name to Hedgehog from Minecraft, it benefited from the name for likely days. The developer created it earlier this month on July 9, and only just changed its name on July 25.
If you didn’t know better, you’d assume it was Minecraft. But then microtransactions appear like spending 50 Robux to get a Diamond Sword or 500 Robux to use a Nuclear Bomb and kill all players. Or the more egregious donate button that has no description aside from costing 10,000 Robux, equivalent to $99.99.
This is what the Hedgehog game page on Roblox originally looked like.
The Hedgehog developer now labeled as HedgehogPower, formerly MinecraftLauncher on Roblox, is far from the only developer using the Minecraft name. After a quick search, I counted several using the Minecraft name without any distinction. And unsurprisingly, they all have ridiculous microtransactions. Here are some examples for each game:
Hedgehog (Formerly named Minecraft)
- Donate – 10,000 Robux ($99.99)
- Nuclear Bomb – 500 Robux ($6.25)
- 5 Netherite Ingots – 250 Robux ($3.13)
- Diamond Sword – 50 Robux ($.63)
⛏️Minecraft💎
- Blade of Doom – 3500 Robux ($43.75)
- [OP] Ore-XRAY – 1250 Robux ($15.63)
- Diamond Tools – 599 Robux ($7.49)
- Diamond Sword – 50 Robux ($.63)
Minecraft 😀😬😁😂
- Admin Commands – 1499 Robux ($18.74)
- Mod Commands – 749 Robux ($9.36)
- Diamond Tools – 749 Robux ($9.36)
- Diamond Pickaxe – 75 Robux ($.94)
Here are some of the microtransactions in ⛏️Minecraft💎, a clone of Minecraft.
Imagine paying $43.75 for a sword when you could instead buy Minecraft officially for $29.99. And not feel like you’re playing creative mode where everything costs real money. Unfortunately, there are probably many kids paying for these microtransactions. Especially when they’re in ripoffs where it’s likely harder to get certain ores so you have to buy them. In the case of Hedgehog, you can buy Netherite Ingots but you can’t get Netherite any other way currently.
The unfortunate reality is that there are likely many parents who give their kids Robux without realizing what they’re spending it on. That’s not to say there aren’t reasonable microtransactions or games you can buy in Roblox. But it’s games like these that scam users or countless gacha games for kids to lose money in.
This isn’t Minecraft, it’s a Roblox game called Minecraft X and you wouldn’t know it.
How can I blame a kid for not knowing better when a developer copies the Minecraft launcher screen? As the caption above says, this screenshot is from a Roblox game called Minecraft X. Fortunately, users are smart enough to downvote it as it currently has a 51% rating. But even still, it has almost 160 players at the time of publishing this article.
Jeff is a journalist with over 10 years of experience writing, streaming, and making content about video games. With an associate degree in journalism, he’s a sucker for RPGs, survival games, roguelikes, and more.