It looks like the immensely popular crafting and building game Minecraft is ramping up for some sort of collaboration with casual apparel and activewear brand PUMA. As an instantly recognizable brand, Minecraft has already teamed up with countless franchises and companies.
Minecraft's immense success and influence is not a surprise to most people familiar with the world of mainstream gaming; with a reported 200 million copies sold, the easy-to-pick-up crafting game has one of the largest install bases of any video game. This fact, coupled with its status as a constantly supported and updated live-service title, makes it prime for collaboration and cross-promotion. It was just last year that the game featured signature content drops and DLC packs for IPs like Sonic the Hedgehog and Ben 10, and Minecraft was able to please countless gamers in the early 2010s by releasing texture packs themed after titles like Mass Effect and The Elder Scrolls. Other brands like Kellogg's and LEGO have also paired with the iconic video game in the past. Indeed, there seems to be no shortage of corporate sponsorship and cross-promotional content coming out of Minecraft.
Fans can now add popular athletic attire and footwear label PUMA to this long list, as the official Minecraft Twitter account recently shared a fairly unambiguous Tweet announcing an upcoming collaboration between the two brands. The video that was Tweeted features a Minecraft ocelot chasing a Creeper, one of Minecraft's many enemy types. Ultimately, the ocelot leaps through the air, mirroring the PUMA logo. The description of the video ends with the statement "We can't wait to reveal more," indicating that more information is forthcoming.
While no concrete details were revealed in this announcement, it is safe to make a few broad guesses; perhaps the most obvious manifestation of this collab would be some sort of in-game cosmetics DLC themed after PUMA's apparel, with real-life merchandise to match. Minecraft has collaborated with physical brands like Nerf and Uniqlo in the past, so it isn't exactly far-fetched. The ocelot posing as the PUMA logo at the end of the video would even make for a unique and simplistic t-shirt or hoodie.
PUMA is a clothing brand that is loved and respected by many, so it makes sense that Mojang and Microsoft would want to collaborate with it to further grow and diversify the Minecraft brand. While clothing themed after video games might not be for everyone, it is undeniable that there is a strong market for high-quality Minecraft merchandise. Fans of both Minecraft and PUMA will have to wait to see what the two brands have up their sleeves.
Source: Minecraft/Twitter