alt Hacker NewsMicrosoft seems to be doing anything they can to get rid of Minecraft Java users having bought a Mojang license in the past. Either they are conspiring against their users, or they just don't care.
The dubious Mojang account migration. Their lack of support for kids who got their accounts phished recently. Migrating to Vulkan breaking old hardware.
Sad story, but it was to be expected MS bought Mojang.
I'm not super worried that this transition is cutting off hardware too soon.
- Vulkan requirement raises the baseline to 2016-2017 hardware. 2017 was 9 years ago.
- They're not cutting off OpenGL right away, according to the announcement they will release 26.1 as OpenGL-only, and then at least one more full release where you can choose between the two options. Based on their usual schedule it will probably be at least a year from now before they cut off OpenGL support, if not longer.
- All previous versions of the game are still available to play, including the oldest versions that run on Java 6, x86-32, OpenGL 1.2, Debian 5, Windows XP. Can still do multiplayer sessions on versions released in mid 2010.
- The community can fill in the gaps in multiple ways. Translation layers are available to connect to newer servers with older clients (ViaVersion), as well as with Bedrock clients (GeyserMC). Mods will almost certainly be released to reimplement the rendering engine in OpenGL or GLES. Renewed interest may mean OpenGL 2.0 compatibility mods could come back. Also, Mojang recently liberated Minecraft from variable name obfuscation, so modding will be easier than ever before.
- As a last resort, software rendering for Vulkan has gotten relatively mature, though obviously this means single digit FPS in many scenarios
Java Edition has taken an extremely conservative path, practically nothing else in the gaming industry held on to legacy hardware this long.