Cultural impact Critics believe Steve has achieved a level of cultural impact and viral recognition outside of the character's origin as a baseline for new players of
Minecraft. He has been considered the face of the franchise in
promotional and
advertising materials; Steve has been considered one of the most iconic video game characters by the publication staff of
Glixel and
GamesRadar+, with the latter considering Steve to be the "enduring symbol" of
Minecraft and his character model as one of the most recognizable silhouettes in
video game culture. Steve has been the subject of multiple fan theories spread across Internet communities. One theory alleged that Steve is based on
Tommy Vercetti, the protagonist of
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, due to the physical resemblance between the characters. It relied on a 2009
Tumblr post by Persson about
Minecraft development progress, where he confirmed that he used designs inspired by the
Grand Theft Auto games. In 2020, Persson responded on social media and denied any connections between both characters, though he stated he had a subconscious connection due to him being a fan of
Vice City. In 2010,
Herobrine, a
creepypasta that is a derivative design of Steve with white, solid eyes, was created on
4chan, gaining prominence amongst the
Minecraft community and becoming an
internet meme, being featured in some official artwork for the game as well. Conversely, the portrayal of Steve by Jack Black in
A Minecraft Movie became the subject of memes as well due to its live-action depiction.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate The announcement and introduction of
Minecraft-themed
downloadable content (DLC) for
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which is primarily represented by Steve, was received positively from critics and players. Some commentators suggested that much of the excitement was due to the character's unprecedented inclusion into
Ultimate; after the reveal, social media website
Twitter struggled with posts generated in response.
Ultimates director
Masahiro Sakurai tweeted "Perhaps Twitter has fallen ...?" once Twitter's services came back online. Patricia Hernandez of
Polygon and Nadia Fox of
US Gamer noticed a suggestive animation featured at the character's win screen, which generated more publicity surrounding the character's imminent debut in
Ultimate. In his review of the Steve DLC for
Ultimate, Mitchell Saltzman of
IGN described Steve as one of the most complex fighters ever introduced in the game in terms of gameplay mechanics and highlighted the ways developers incorporated the resource collection and item crafting mechanics of
Minecraft into Steve's moveset.
Kotaku staff were divided over the iteration of Steve in
Ultimate. Ian Walker considered Steve as one of the most exciting characters to play in
Ultimate after observing an event where a player used Steve's construction capabilities. Ari Notis took a less favorable view and called him the strangest character he had ever played, describing the visual and gameplay dissonances he observed from the implementation of Steve in
Ultimate. Since Steve's addition, the character has been regarded as overpowered within the game's
competitive community, who have cited Steve's unorthodox playstyle and rapid rise in high placements at competitions. Players began advocating for Steve to be banned from tournaments, fearing the character's dominance could negatively affect viewership similarly to the influence
Bayonetta had on
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Some opposed the ban, stating that effective counterplay had yet to be developed. By March 2023, Steve was banned in several tournaments due to the discovery of a new technique that removes the consequences from opponent attacks, effectively allowing Steve to immediately retaliate. This method is known as the "Phantom MLG".
Analysis In an entry from the 2017 publication
100 Greatest Video Game Characters, Chris Bailey explained that the sparse knowledge on Steve shows how video game avatars are being perceived in relation to player identity; the character embodies and conducts the spirit of freedom and customization inherent to
sandbox games. He elaborated that Steve exemplifies the "centrality" of relatable avatars in affording players their own creative agency in and around video games; while other games allow a certain level of customization, Steve embodies this possibility more than most by allowing users to change the entire surface of the body beyond changing between pre-defined hairstyles or skin colors. This process is visible through the proliferation of online communities set up to share user-generated adapted skins. While Persson asserted that Steve's gender is
non-binary, Bailey took the view that it is "initially difficult" to account for the inclusion of an avatar with an "evidently gendered name". Nevertheless, Bailey observed that
Minecraft player communities have embraced the game's openness due to their enthusiasm in customizing their avatars' appearances. This is achieved through the process of overlaying a new skin over Steve. Similarly, H. Chad Lane said the concept of skins in
Minecraft, with Steve and Alex as starting points for the player to create their avatar, can act as a reflection of the player's identity and self-perceptions, regardless of whether it is similar to or in contrast to the
real world. == Notes ==