What happened?
The global Minecraft community tuned in to MINECON Live 2019 today, and the Minecraft team returned the love with sneak peeks into what’s in store for Minecraft in the months ahead.
Studio Head of Minecraft Helen Chiang summarized it today: “The Minecraft franchise continues to grow steadily, and we’re humbled by the passion our community shares with us every day. MINECON Live is just one way we’re able to celebrate our players around the world and we’re looking forward to all of the amazing updates and new experiences coming to the franchise in the weeks and months ahead.”
Gimme the News!
- Global Early Access and Adventures for “Minecraft Earth” are Coming – Early Access for “Minecraft Earth” will start rolling out in October. Plus, starting in Early Access, the “Minecraft Earth” community will be able to experience Adventures for the first time. Adventures are small slices of procedurally generated, limited-time Minecraft worlds that you play in augmented reality in life size and are just one of the experiences that are optimized for social multiplayer.
- Brace Yourself for…the Nether Update – We revealed the next big update to Minecraft, which will give the Nether a massive makeover and introduce two new mobs exclusive to the area – Piglins! We also showed off the new Target block (which will act as a projectile hit-detector) and gave a sneak peek into two all-new Nether biomes called Soulsand Valley and Netherwart Forest.
- What’s the Buzz All About? BEES! – We’re all buggin’ about bringing bees and beehives to Minecraft! The Minecraft bees will help pollinate crops and flowers, and during MINECON Live we introduced the Honey block that will have many fun new mechanics. The bees will arrive to both Bedrock and Java before the holidays.
- Blockify Yourself with Character Creator – Starting today (!) players can make a custom character in the base Minecraft game and “Minecraft Earth.” There are more than 100 free features to customize, including all hair, eyes, mouths, skin textures, facial hair, and body sizes, and there will also be a range of custom accessories, created by the Minecraft team, available for purchase. We designed the Character Creator as a flexible and fun way for players to make their gameplay experience even more personalized and we’re excited that there will be inclusive features like limb replacement included as well.
- From Screen to Table with… Minecraft: Builders & Biomes – We introduced Minecraft: Builders & Biomes from Ravensburger! It recreates the digital game in a shared, in-person experience complete with mobs to fight and a real block of resource cubes to mine. The game will be available in Europe starting in October and in the United States starting in November.
- Community Chooses Mountains Biome – During MINECON Live, we left it to the community to vote and decide which Minecraft biome would receive a major makeover first – either the Swamp, Badlands or Mountains. And the winner was…Mountains!
- The Future of MINECON – We’re excited to share that next year will be the return of a physical MINECON experience, called Minecraft Festival, a three-day celebration that will feature interactive exhibits, inclusive gameplay, tournaments, exclusive merchandise and meet-and-greets with creators and Mojang developers, alongside our digital global broadcast.
