There comes a time when successful mods become too big for the games they're modifications for. This appears to be the case with Minecraft mod CivCraft , with its creators announcing that Praxis, a standalone game based on CivCraft, is in development by a new studio devoted to the project. Florida-based studio [Redacted] Games claims CivCraft is “so far-reaching and ambitious that anything less than a bespoke platform” is insufficient.

[Redacted] Games is describing Praxis as “a large-scale online multiplayer society-building experience”. It's been in development for nearly a year and a half, and while the studio hasn't yet shared any screenshots or video footage (the image above is CivCraft, not Praxis) there are plans to involve users of the Praxis subreddit in development some time in the future.

"Imagine if you stripped down Civcraft to the core ideas that drive all these awesome socially-emergent experiences, and then designed an entire engine and game around them," the team writes on its subreddit. "That's Praxis. It's an open world in which we provide you the tools to build the society you want.

There's even ways you can help get the project on its feet. The studio is currently looking for an in-house artist. The news follows the announcement earlier this week that Microsoft has purchased Minecraft creators Mojang . What this means for modders is yet to be seen.