Mojang working on new launcher for Minecraft, Linux might not see support

For those still playing Minecraft, you may know that Mojang is working on a new launcher that doesn't use Java (hooray!), but it might not run on Linux (boo!).

I spoke to Nathan Adams one of the Minecraft developers on twitter who said this:

@gamingonlinux No official plans for linux, old launcher will continue to be updated for them. I'm gonna try anyway though, but no promises!

— Nathan Adams (@Dinnerbone) July 26, 2016

Thanks for the prompt response Nathan!

The good news is obviously the old launcher won't suddenly cease to function, but it's sad to see, as Linux sounds like it is essentially getting sidelined with no official plans for the newer launcher. One day the Linux java-based launcher may stop seeing any updates, and the new one will obviously have newer features that may eventually become required.

I highly suggest looking up one of the open source alternatives like Minetest, Voxelands, Terasology and others.