Minecraft piglins
Piglins are apparently the main enemies in the new game (pic: Microsoft)

A new Minecraft spin-off is supposedly in development at British studio Double Eleven, and it seems to be a real-time strategy game.

Minecraft Dungeons has already been a decent-sized hit for Mojang and earlier rumours have suggested they’re now working on another two spin-offs, one of which is a real-time strategy game.

Apparently, the game is already in testing, so it may be relatively imminent. It could even be one of the nine new previews that Microsoft is going to unveil at its not-E3 showcase on Sunday.

Supposedly, the new game will involving controlling a ‘Steve-esque unit on the field’ that is able to order around other units and take on Piglins as one of the main enemies.

It’s a very long time since Command & Conquer made real-time strategies one of the hottest genres around and nowadays it’s very rare to see any new examples, especially as they don’t usually run well on a console without a keyboard and mouse.

The Minecraft name should be enough to ensure a minimum level of success though, and whatever the game is it will apparently have a proper story and cut scenes – so it’s not purely a multiplayer title.

Despite the genre being out of fashion, Microsoft has done more than most to push it on consoles, via the Halo Wars franchise.

Halo Wars 2 was made by Total War developer Creative Assembly but following the Minecraft rumours from ex-Giant Bomb founder Jeff Gerstmann on Twitch, fans noticed that Minecraft Dungeons creator Double Eleven is currently hiring for a number of staff to work on a ‘Major IP, RTS game’.

It’s not much of a stretch from that to imagine that they’re doing the new Minecraft game, since the studio is likely now viewed as a safe pair of hands by both Mojang and Microsoft.

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