Lego marketing director David Gram speaks in Malmo about Lego’s inspiration from Minecraft.
In a rather wistful talk at Malmo’s The Conference, Lego marketing director David Gram notes that Lego needs to re-invent the way it interacts with kids; especially with kids who tend to play more digitally than with physical bricks.
Taking Lego to the computer screen comes from inspiration from Minecraft, the increasingly popular block-building game that allows gamers to build entire worlds with blocks.
“Minecraft is digital Lego,” Gram says. “We only wish we had invented it.”
Lego recently launched Lego Fusion, which is slated to be a mix between Civilization and The Sims. Gamers can build and populate a town, but they must build the town with physical bricks. Then, gamers can take photos with a phone or tablet and take it to the computer screen for a 3D render. There are no templates or instructions, so gamers can build whatever they like.
Lego states that it was keen on returning to the core of Lego as a company: getting kids to build things with bricks.
