Microsoft's Minecraft has new competition. Lego today unveiled a new brick-based building game, Lego Worlds, which is now available on Steam.
The game is part of Steam Early Access, a beta channel of sorts for games that are still in production. TT Games, which developed Lego Worlds, said it wanted to get feedback from the gaming community before a final launch.
"Lego Worlds embodies the physical, Lego brick-building fun that consumers have enjoyed for decades, on a digital platform that delivers an entirely new type of experience with the beloved bricks," Tom Stone, managing director of TT Games, said in a statement. "From the brick-by-brick editor, to discovering an expansive range of items, characters and creatures to populate your worlds—the creative possibilities are endless."
In Lego Worlds, players enter existing worlds, which they can then alter (brick by brick or via "prefabricated structures") to create something of their own.
"Entire worlds and creations are brought to life with characters and creatures that interact with each other as well as the player in unexpected ways," the announcement said. "From helicopters to dragons, motorbikes to bears, there are always interesting ways for players to explore the vast worlds and discover hidden treasures."
Some players who unlock in-game rewards will get physical Lego sets, though details were not released. Future versions of the game will also add multiplayer and sharing features.
The game will inevitably draw comparisons to Minecraft, which also takes place in a brick-like universe. Some of the most basic of activities in Minecraft involve collecting blocks of material and moving them around to create structures and tools. So, elements of the game end up appearing like blocky virtual Legos.
Lego will have some tough competition, though. Just last month, YouTube announced that people watch videos about Minecraft more than any other game on the platform. It ran into a little trouble in Turkey, but recently branched out to include female characters and the residents of Springfield.