Minecraft is known for its frequent, remarkable updates, and each year its developers at Mojang hold an event to announce the next slew of content the game will receive. Known as Minecraft Live, the event features news, interviews, contributions from popular content creators, and the famous mob vote.
This year's event was held on October 16 and lived up to the standards set by previous years. Players tuned in for an hour-and-a-half-long livestream full of surprises and exciting news, and the vote was as heated as ever as three fantastic mobs battled it out to make it into the game. Whether you missed the event or just want a recap, here are all the most important headlines.
10 The Caves and Cliffs Update Part II Is Coming in November or December
Originally announced during last year's Minecraft Live, the Caves and Cliffs Update was ultimately split into two halves. The first half was launched earlier in 2021, but during the stream, Mojang's creative lead Agnes Larsson confirmed the second half will get to players before the end of 2021.
Version 1.18 will bring massively overhauled terrain generation, new cave biomes including lush green caverns and dripstone caves full of stalactites and stalagmites, huge mountains, sprawling green meadows, and much more — there's a lot to get excited for.
9 Minecraft Bedrock and Java Editions are Coming to Xbox Game Pass for PC
Xbox Game Pass has proven incredibly popular with gamers, giving access to a multitude of titles for a low monthly cost. What some don't realize, however, is that it's also available for PC. The PC version includes a plethora of Xbox titles as well as numerous popular PC games, and as of Minecraft Live, Minecraft will be joining those ranks.
The developers said they were unable to decide which version of Minecraft to add, so both Java and Bedrock Edition will be available, giving players the maximum freedom to choose what they want to play.
8 Blockbench is a Powerful New Creation Tool for Bedrock Players
One of the biggest strengths of Minecraft Bedrock Edition is the accessibility for players to customize their game and play how they want to, and during the Live, Mojang revealed a new plugin to make mod creation even easier. Blockbench will allow players to create new mobs with incredible ease, with the only limit being their imagination.
Demonstrations included a beautiful butterfly, a fearsome bear, and a fantastical tree creature. Blockbench looks to be an excellent and highly flexible tool for anyone looking to make additions to the game.
7 Seasonal Updates are Coming for Minecraft Dungeons
Minecraft's spinoff game Dungeons is, as the name suggests, a dungeon-crawler set in the Minecraft world, filled with a whole host of mobs, both original and familiar. During Minecraft Live, it was announced that the next major update Dungeons will receive is The Tower, launching in December.
The Tower features procedurally generated floors, where entirely new combinations of enemies can spawn, with the difficulty increasing as you climb. The levels, while random, have seeds and can be replayed for up to two weeks after you first encounter them.
6 Minecraft 1.19 Will Be the Wild Update
The announcement of the next major update is an annual highlight of Minecraft Live, and this year was no exception. The Wild Update will have a two-pronged focus. One part of the update refreshes the game's wilderness with swathes of natural beauty, while the other focuses on adventure and facing off against wild opponents.
The concept art and screenshots shown look fantastic and demonstrate some brilliant ideas. The Wild Update is sure to continue the trend of fantastic additions players have been used to.
5 Swamps Are Getting a Major Overhaul
Long-time Minecraft fans may remember the biome vote from back in 2019, which Mountains won, giving us the eventual terrain changes of the Caves and Cliffs Update. One of the losers of that vote was Swamps, with the proposed additions being mangrove trees and boats with chests.
As part of the Wild Update, the Swamp update is coming after all, bringing the above changes along with mud blocks (created by wetting dirt, and able to be dried into clay), mud bricks, and fireflies.
4 Frogs are Coming to Minecraft
Another proposed addition thought to be cast aside after the 2019 vote was Minecraft frogs, adorable little critters that would hop around the Swamps. Version 1.19 is adding them too, as well as even cuter tadpoles to serve as their baby forms. Frogs will be native to more than just Swamps, though those native to the Marshes will eat fireflies.
Frogs have three variants, with their chosen one being determined by the water temperature in which a tadpole grows up. Each variant will help the player in a unique way, but exactly how isn't known yet.
3 The Birch Forest Will Be Seeing Some Changes As Well
In addition to Swamps, another biome the Wild Update is confirmed to be refreshing is Birch Forests. Previously, these rare forests differed from regular Forests only by the lack of oak trees, but from what was shown and Minecraft Live, it's clear Mojang has a far more distinct vision for a Birch Forest update.
Concept art was shown featuring a far more lush, airy vibe; reeds, flowers, mushrooms, fallen trunks to sit on and generally taller trees are all being considered to help set this underrated biome apart.
2 The Deep Dark is Delayed, But is Coming in 1.19 With Even More Content
Early in the show, Agnes announced that the Deep Dark — originally supposed to come with the Caves and Cliffs Update in 1.17, and then pushed back to 1.18 with the split — was delayed again until 1.19. Later on, however, it was revealed the wait would be worth it as the delays were due to how much the scope of the biome had grown.
Deep Dark Cities are entire underground metropolises with special loot, as well as blocks like sculk catalysts that feed on dead mobs and sculk shriekers that can suck the light from an area, and a more fleshed out and terrifying Warden. This is all coming as part of the adventure-focused side of the Wild Update.
1 The Allay Won the Mob Vote and Will Be Coming in 1.19
As is tradition, Minecraft Live 2021 included a vote for players to choose an addition to the game. The vote was hyped up in the week preceding the event, with players forming into camps supporting the three candidates — the Glare, the Copper Golem, and the Allay, a small fairy-like mob which would take an item from the player and go off to fetch others like it. It also loved to dance.
The Glare was the first to be eliminated, and it came down to a face-off between the Golem and the Allay. The adorable Allay emerged victorious, with its win being announced at the end of the stream, along with confirmation the music-loving fairy will launch with the Wild Update.