Here's everything Minecraft dev Mojang announced at Minecon Earth 2018 (including the pandas)

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.

New Marketplace content Inspiration Island - described as a "floating theme park world filled with creative challenges" - will release later this year, and be free to all regardless of whether you are "new to Creative Mode or just need a little extra inspiration".

Most excitingly of all for some - "just seven years after it was suggested at the very first Minecon" - players can finally use scaffolding, creating sturdy support structures fashioned from bamboo.

Which leads me neatly back onto pandas - yay! Mojang didn't share much, but this image alone is enough for me. Oh, and there's also more kitty cats joining the ranks, too.

For the full details - and there is a lot - head on over to minecraft.net.