Relive the live extravaganza through glorious text!
Now that the deafening applause from the sitting ovation has
died down, it’s time for the real star to take over. That’s right, your
self-appointed Recap Queen is here to give you the highlights from the show
that the internet is already calling “Minecraft Live”.
THE CAVE UPDATE
Yes, yes. It’s happening. All of you proved once and for all
that enough commenting, pleading, and campaigning will get you anything. As
long as that thing is an update specifically to the cave and mountain systems
in a game made of blocks. The Caves & Cliffs Update as it
is now officially named comes with improved cave generation and features things
like lush caves and dripstone caves. There will
also be a brand new archeology system, which adds a very cool sense of history
and storytelling element to the game. You’re digging now, but soon you’re going
to be excavating.
Something has to populate these caverns, so we also threw
in crystals, telescopes, bundles, the sculk
sensor block and a new hostile mob – the warden! Does
Minecraft really need more hostile mobs? Isn’t it enough that the llamas spit
at you?
The cliff in Caves & Cliffs means that the Mountain Update that you voted for last year will be included in this one. We got a first look at the mountain goat that will populate these peaks, and I like it even though I think it resembles me a little too much. I’m not saying a certain Dutch pixel artist did this on purpose, but if he did then he got his revenge. You win this round, Boerstra.
The Caves & Cliffs Update also brings you copper! What’s so
cool about copper that it gets its own paragraph? Besides
being old-timey slang for officers of the law (unless you are British, in which
case it is now-timey), copper will add an aging element to the game. No, it
does not wrinkle and since we’re on the subject, neither do I. Over time
however, your copper builds will start to turn green. So if you’ve been playing
Minecraft for a long time, you’re finally getting the cold, hard evidence you
deserve and no longer have to rely on insisting that you’re not lying.
What else, what else? I feel like I’m forgetting something… oh yeah! This update brings a new contender for cutest mob, the axolotl! Look at it! It comes in a bucket! A BUCKET!
How am I supposed to concentrate on all the other announcements
now? They better be good, or I’m going to abandon all of you by throwing myself
into a bucket of axolotls.
My darling Arch-Illager’s playground will get a major update in November when we add a free update for cross-play! Does this mean that the game will turn into a very advanced version of tic-tac-toe? No! For some reason the developers thought you should be able to play with your friends regardless of platform instead. If the Dungeons team spent a little less time socializing and a lot more time answering the notes I shove under their locked door we could all be playing a boring version of bingo right now on our respective devices. But to each their own.
Cross-play isn’t the only thing coming to Dungeons, the brand
new Howling Peaks DLC and a Season Pass are
coming out in December! The new DLC also comes with a new
boss, the Tempest Golem. I would advise playing in your windbreaker to up
your fashion game while protecting yourself from the howling winds that this
boss conjures up. Sounds like a breeze? No problem, you’ll be able to turn up
the difficulty in the free update Apocalypse Plus. This adds 20 new
difficulties after Apocalypse VII, increases the characters’ power ceiling, and
adds new enchantments and items.
Did you notice that the team looked exceptionally model-esque
during the event? It is not only because they performatively ignored me during
rehearsals like all supermodels do, they were also wearing CLOAK’s
new Minecraft line! Like what you saw? Get your hands on the new Minecraft
Dungeons t-shirt, hoodie, and hat here.
As if reading this summary wasn’t enough, I am here to promote
even more text-based pastimes! Max Brooks takes us away in his
upcoming novel The Mountain, the sequel to his
bestseller The Island. This is a tale of survival, adventure,
and most importantly no mountains. Don’t let the title deceive you, there isn’t
so much as a molehill. Was I given a false copy of the book so I wouldn’t
reveal any spoilers? Probably. It might be best that you read the book for
yourself when it comes out in March 2021!
Since we’re already talking about books, let’s take a look at Minecraft: Education Edition. In the early days of Covid-19, when most places were under lockdown, we made Education Edition free for educators and released free content from it for everyone on Marketplace. We’re going to be adding a new free map releasing soon in both Minecraft: Education Edition and Marketplace based on the teachings of US Congressman John Lewis. The map is called "Good Trouble: Social Justice Movements Around the World" and is just the beginning, more lessons in a new equity & inclusion category will be added this fall.
Now it’s time for the Minecraft Education Global Build Championship, our very first international design competition! This is the first time that we’re challenging students from around the world to design and build a space that promotes a healthy environment for people and animals alike! I wanted to make a flippant joke about this but it sounds really lovely so I’m going to make up for it in the next segment, OK? Students can go here to check if they have access to Minecraft: Education Edition, which is where all submissions will be built. Educators, parents, and gaurdians can register their students in teams of 1-3 at aka.ms/MinecraftEducationChampionship for a certificate of completion and the chance to win Minecraft prizes!
JEB! JEB! JEB!
Obviously, the only one who could follow all of that is rap genius and
occasional game designer Jeb. He divulged a lot of information in an intimate
tête-à-tête during the show, including a pitch for his own book. I am assuming
that this opens up the playing field for all of us, so look out for my upcoming
epic What’s Mine is Craft: How I Got Hired and Fired For Writing
Terrible Jokes.
Jeb also got into the nitty-gritty of Minecraft’s combat mechanics. This was news to me as I had not realized that there was combat in the game at all. You can actually fight back? After I got over this initial shock, I was able to pick up something about there being a difference between Java and Bedrock and a cookie jar? Somebody get this man a snack.
It wasn’t all combat and cookies, Lydia and Jeb also shared some of the cool stuff that Minecraft brings to the real world. Block by Block is a collaboration with UN Habitat that allows community members to redesign their neighborhoods in Minecraft. Take a look at this video that shows you what a few areas in Kosovo looked like before and after their amazing community gave it an upgrade!
Last but not least, Jens also revealed a little piece of
delightful news. Alex, Steve, and a whole mess of mobs will finally prove to
the world that just because you’re made of blocks, you’re no square. That’s
right, Minecraft is coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate!
Some would say that this is… smashing? Too much? Especially after
the copper line that I insisted on earlier? I’m officially banned from
attempting a British accent now? That’s fair.
CREATOR TECH AND MINECRAFT MARKETPLACE
There is a lot of exciting stuff happening over at the Marketplace. Not only is Terra Swoop Force coming soon, but there are also new custom items, blocks and a batch of tools specifically for creators! During the live event we saw how this affects gameplay in RPG and parkour maps, which was pretty parcool. I will not apologize for that, let’s just move on.
Since this is a summary full of reveals, I am going to include
one of my own! For most of the year, everyone at Mojang Studios has been and
still are working from home. Joel, our Office Manager and angel that we don’t
deserve, has helped keep us connected in different ways but one of them was by
sending all of us tomato plant starter kits. Those of us who didn’t kill theirs
on day one by being too good at gardening have shared pictures of their plants’
progress so you can only imagine the collective gasp when the live show
featured tomato monsters. Was this foreshadowing? Or simply coincidence? Only
time will tell.
You were given the opportunity to vote for the next mob that we
add to Minecraft! Again! Because apparently, nobody learned their lesson after
the Phantom! In a very exciting Twitter poll, three mobs contested for your
vote. Did you pick the precious Moobloom, the cold-handed Iceologer, or the
shiny shiny Glow Squid?
Without further ado, let me reveal the winner!
Ta-da! It’s the Glow Squid! I knew you weren’t
satisfied with the game’s proportion of squid to non-squid mobs. Who could
blame you? They’ve got tentacles, ink, and eyes that you can get lost in for
hours on end. And now some of them glow? Who knows what they could get up to
while you gaze at them. Anything, really.
That
about wraps up this recap. If you want to relive Minecraft Live over and over
again, either scroll back up to the top of this page or watch the entire show
here! I’m late for my daily meeting with my squid overlord regular
human boss.
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