A few days ago, the following information was shared on the LEGO Ambassador Network about the future of LEGO MINDSTORMS. I know that this is affecting both adult LEGO MINDSTORMS fans and young LEGO robotics club members. If you would like to discuss this news, feel free to share in the comment section below.
Since its launch in September 1998, LEGO MINDSTORMS has been one of the core ‘Build & Code’ experiences in the company’s portfolio, carrying with it significant brand equity and becoming a stand-out experience for the early days of consumer robotics and leading to current Build & Code experiences such as SPIKE Prime, from LEGO Education’s LEGO Learning System.
However, now having a number of priorities in LEGO Education and other Build & Code experiences, we have decided to focus our resources and future plans by redirecting our MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor team and their expertise into different areas of the business.
This means the physical MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor product (#51515) and its related elements (#88016 LEGO Large Hub, and #88018 LEGO Medium Angular Motor) are to exit our portfolio from the end of 2022, whilst digital platforms – such as the LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor App – will remain live until at least the end of 2024.
We still have strong belief in the Build & Code proposition and will continue to support it through platforms such as SPIKE Prime, and we are continuing to hold on to the trademark for the MINDSTORMS brand and assessing our future plans together with LEGO Education.
What do you think? Are you a LEGO MINDSTORMS user? What is the future of LEGO robotics in your opinion? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below!
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Wow. This is disappointing.. especially for those who recently invested in the Mindstorms system.
Although I’m sad, I kind of saw this coming. Mindstorms takes a lot of resources and it’s a niche product with a relatively small following. So as much as I hate to see it go, I understand why they went this way.
So if I’m reading this right, spike is still going to be around. How is that compare to Mindstorms?
They are very similar, but Spike Prime. Is more user friendly for kids and those new to LEGO robotics.