Pandas are coming to Minecraft.
There are other things too - the Village and Pillage update, a new free marketplace content called Inspirational Island, and the spin-off game, Minecraft: Dungeons, we told you about earlier today - but as pandas are the second greatest creature of all time, that's the hook I'm hanging this news story on.
As Minecon Earth 2018 wraps up, Mojang's Tom Stone confirmed that the next update, Village and Pillage, will release in 2019. As well as "new friendly folk" - as the "pillage" part of the title suggests - villages can be destroyed by nefarious ne'er-do-wells, who'll attack with a brand new weapon, the crossbow. Though slower to use than the humble bow, they're much more powerful, so it's just as well we'll be able to craft this superior weapon, too, and jazz it up with enchantments.
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Minecraft developer Mojang has announced new spin-off game, Minecraft: Dungeons.
A dungeon crawler set in the Minecraft universe - which makes sense given the name, let's face it - has only a vague 2019 release window for now, and is currently only scheduled to release on PC. Here, take a look:
Developed as a "passion project" by a "small and dedicated" team in Stockholm, Sweden, it's inspired by their love of classic dungeon crawler games and will feature four-player co-op.
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Video game films are notorious for being pretty bad, but in the case of the upcoming Minecraft film by Warner Brothers, the problems are beginning even before the film hits cinemas.
Minecraft's Better Together version finally launches today for Nintendo Switch, and a new trailer has dropped to play up its cross-platform capabilities.
Xbox One and Nintendo Switch owners can now play Minecraft as if they were on the same platform but notably - as the trailer hammers home - it is just Nintendo and Xbox on board. Not Sony.
Minecraft's Better Together Update (which is in fact an entirely new game, although free to existing owners) is also compatible with Minecraft on Windows 10, iPhone, iPad and Android devices.
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Minecraft's long-awaited Update Aquatic has finally surfaced, and is now available on Xbox One, Windows 10, Gear VR and Oculus, mixed reality devices, and mobile.
Update Aquatic, as its name suggests, is designed to add more life to Minecraft's oceans. It's a major update too - so big, in fact, that developer Mojang has elected to release it in two parts. The first is out now, while phase two is "coming soon".
Once the new patch is installed, Minecraft players on supported platforms will be able to enjoy a wide selection of new fish and other water-dwelling creatures, including salmon, cod, pufferfish, tropical fish, and dolphins - the latter of which will follow boats across the ocean.
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Update Aquatic, the next big content drop for Minecraft, will be the last to arrive on older console platforms.
After this, Microsoft will no longer update the game's Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, or those on PlayStation Vita or Wii U.
The update will not arrive at all for those still playing the specific Xbox One and Nintendo Switch edition of the game - you'll have to switch over to the Bedrock version of Minecraft for these platforms instead. (The Switch version of the Bedrock edition still lacks a release date.)
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Mojang has announced that this year's MineCon Earth will take place on September 29th.
The Minecon Earth show happened yesterday and a handful of Minecraft announcements were made. The biggest was the reveal of Update Aquatic, an entire overhaul to oceans coming spring 2018, and it has dolphins - dolphins that can lead you to treasure, which is Flippering marvellous.
As part of MineCon Earth 2017 this weekend, Minecraft fans will have the opportunity to vote for one of four brand-new mobs, with the most popular creature making it into the game.
When Microsoft announced Minecraft's Better Together update, fans cheered. Minecraft feels built for cross-network play. It's the world's biggest family game, an experience designed with collaborative play in mind, and now truly open to everyone regardless of device (except PlayStation).
At least, that's how it seemed. Sadly, the edition which has arrived on console is not quite what fans had envisioned.
Microsoft never did a great job of communicating the fact its Better Together Update is not actually an update for console owners. It's a completely different game - one which is almost identical to Minecraft's previous Pocket Edition for mobiles.
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Minecraft convention MineCon won't be held in a publicly attended physical location this year. Instead, it will be beamed into our hearts and minds via the magic of livestreaming.
Microsoft recently released a big new update for Minecraft that marked the beginning of cross-platform play, and alongside the update updated its safety features for playing the game online.
Minecraft's various console versions just got a big new update, adding in new animals, structures, blocks, villagers, items and Achievements/Trophies.
Going by the latest post on Minecraft's official blog, it sounds like the game's last major update on consoles before the game-changing Better Together Update lands later this summer. That's the update which will unify Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, mobile, VR and Windows 10 editions of the game into a single entity where everyone can play together. It's also the update which PlayStation has opted out of.
As expected, however, "platforms which won't support the Better Together Update will continue getting updates even after it lands," Minecraft's Marsh Davies reassured.
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Sony has defended its decision to block cross-play between PS4 and Xbox One after coming under fire from gamers this week.
In what seems like a pretty logical team-up, kid-friendly animation series Adventure Time and perennial sandbox fave Minecraft are teaming up.
Microsoft has announced a new storefront for selected user-made Minecraft content on mobile and Windows 10, which will go live alongside the game's 1.1 Discovery update this spring.
Minecraft's various console versions are getting Glide, a new free mini-game.
Do you remember your first adventures in Minecraft? I do. I was mostly confused. For much of its history, Minecraft hasn't done much to help you understand how to play it, how to craft things, what these crafted things do, and why you'd want them. It doesn't tell you about the alternate dimensions that you can visit, or about how you get to them. It doesn't tell you why should should play or what you're aiming for.
Minecraft continues to be an astonishing success - the sandbox game king has now sold more than 121m copies across all platforms.
What happens when you go up against Minecraft? What happens when you dare suggest gaming's golden child not belong in the classroom, then call it "a gimmick", then say "we need to drain the swamp of gimmicks"? It does not involve being sent nice flowers I'll tell you that.
Horror author Max Brooks is writing an official Minecraft novel.
The Minecraft movie officially has a release date... in 2019.
24th May to be exact. That's straight from the horse's mouth of Minecraft developer Mojang.
"Yes, that might seem like a long time away, but it just so happens to be the right amount of time to make it completely awesome," said Mojang COO Vu Bui. "And we all want an awesome Minecraft movie, right?"
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It is, simply, a phenomenon: Minecraft has now sold more than 100m copies worldwide across PC, console and mobile platforms.
The game is owned in every country and territory on the planet - even Antarctica (it's probably David Attenborough) - and in 2016 more than 53,000 copies have been bought every day.
Creator Mojang released an infographic showcasing some statistics. In Europe, for example, the mobile version of Minecraft is most popular but only by the smallest of margins. The mobile version accounts for 36 per cent of sales whereas the console versions account for 35 per cent. The longer-serving PC version accounts for 29 per cent.
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Minecraft has long been a testing ground for people to explore and experiment, but the sandbox game will soon host players of a very different kind: artificial intelligences.
UPDATE 17/11/15 10.45am: PEGI has quietly removed its listing for the unannounced Minecraft: Wii U Edition.
Minecraft will, finally, get official virtual reality support.
Mojang has released an update to Minecraft that lets Windows 10 and Pocket Edition players play together.
Patch 0.12.1 lets Windows 10 Edition Beta players play with those who play Minecraft on a phone or tablet.
"One of our long-term goals for Minecraft is to bring our community closer, and give as many players as possible a chance to play together," Mojang said. "This is a small step towards that goal."
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Northern Ireland's government, in an attempt to simultaneously seem hip and educational, has recreated its region in Minecraft.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia co-creator and star Rob McElhenney will be directing the Minecraft movie, Mojang has announced.
Mojang has announced Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition, which will launch in beta form alongside Microsoft's new operating system on 29th July.
It will be free to download if you already own Minecraft on PC, or $10 (about Ł6.40) if you don't.
This edition is separate to the existing PC build and will offer online and local multiplayer with anyone playing on Minecraft: Pocket Edition (that's the version available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone).
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