Gaming News

A Journey’s End: Story Mode Episode 8 incoming!

Are you sitting down? I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that Story Mode Episode 8 is almost here! It’s due to roll out on September 13th for PC, Mac and consoles. Hooray! The bad news is that this thrilling caper represents the very final instalment of the three-part DLC adventure. I know, I know. Do you need to be held? I’ve heard that breathing into a paper bag helps. But if Jesse and the gang’s tale is coming to a conclusion, then it’s certainly not going out quietly. Having survived supernatural storms, maniacs in mansions, malevolent intelligence and more, Jesse’s crew have one last and potentially lethal trial before they can find their way back through the Portal Corridor. In their haste to obtain the Atlas, our...

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Battle Map pack 3 unleashed on console!

Hello! We’ve recently released Map pack 3 for Battle - our free, combat-focused mini-game - on all console editions of Minecraft. It includes three new locations for you to take on your friends and enemies and costs a cool $2.99 or equivalent. First, there’s Castle that will have you jumping off ramparts, climbing ladders, and engaging in hand-to-hand combat on huge banqueting tables majestic halls. Invasion is a modern city that’s been destroyed by an unknown presence. The crashed UFOs hint that aliens might be involved, but who knows? Maybe that Herobrine chap had something to do with it. And, finally, Shipyard - a city build around an airship suspended miles above the ground. A truly epic location and a great place to prove your...

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Minecraft snapshot 16w35a

Another week, another snapshot. And another opportunity for me to use that exact same phrase to introduce it. We are still focused on fixing bugs in the 1.11 snapshots, but Minecon is getting closer and we have some new features to show there. We made text change to bring the Snooper Data description into line with the updated privacy policy. This refers to the fact that we collect a hashed identifier for your Minecraft account, so we can get an idea of the size of our active userbase. Remember you can always opt out! Notable changes: Some bugs have been asked to bother another game Most bugs agreed to move on Bugs fixed in 16w35a: [Bug MC-2298] - Placing trapdoors / fence gates right beside a redstone source will not update...

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We’ve just updated our privacy policy!

Hello, everyone! It’s exactly as the title says. Our privacy policy was looking a little dog-eared and a refresh was due! So, in order to bring things up to date, we’ve now adopted the privacy policy of our owner, Microsoft. It’s pretty normal for a company of Microsoft’s size to have a single privacy policy for all of its different bits as it takes a lot of time and effort to maintain multiple policies and translate them into different languages for our users all around the world. By joining the Microsoft Privacy Statement , we can spend less time maintaining all these separate policies and more time making our games even more awesome. This is the same policy used by Skype, Outlook and our fellow devs over at 343 Industries - so...

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It’s only natural: changelog 0.15.7 for Pocket & Win 10

We may have just released the Android beta for 0.16, but rest assured we aren’t getting too far ahead of ourselves: our devs have been working on packaging up all manner of bug-fixes and tweaks for the less experimental 0.15.7 Pocket / Windows Edition release! It’ll be rolling out today. Much of the effort has gone into resolving issues with the Oculus Rift features on Windows 10, but we also added support for the Natural texture pack, so you can enjoy higher-res textures and more realistic sheep faces - that’s 108 extra pixels for every inscrutable ruminant stare. Wow! If you find any bugs, be sure to report them here! Click here to go to the official feedback site and tell us what you like, don’t like, or just upvote a suggestion...

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Vote for us at SXSW! Oh, go on.

The South by Southwest Conference, aka SXSW, is an amazing celebration of the convergence of interactive, film and music industries. It’s held in Austin, Texas each year, and is the height of all that is hip and cool. You know who else is hip and cool? We are. (You can tell by the way we use hip and cool phrases like “hip and cool”.) We’d really like to go along to SXSW and tell people about our charity work with Block By Block, and our educational efforts with Minecraft: Education Edition. We’ve proposed a bunch of panels to present - and these are now up for a public vote. That means you can help us! If you fancy giving us a hand, head over to the SXSW community voting page, sign up, and give us a thumbs up on these two panels...

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Let's get ready to Tumble! Console mini game out now!

Break blocks and bring your foes low! Tumble is the second mini game we’ve released for Console Edition - a frantic competitive clash in which players destroy the very floor beneath their enemies’ feet, sending them plummeting to their doom. Sound familiar? It’s inspired by community favourite: Spleef! We wanted to bring that experience to console and, as with Battle, streamline the experience so players don’t have to worry about re-setting maps between matches or even keeping score. Oh, and it’s available as a free update today! Freeeeeeeeeeee! There are two variants of the game to choose from: one which lets players launch snowballs, the other equipping combatants with shovels. Each bout consists of a best of three, on a series...

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Sneak Peek: Boss Update coming to Pocket & Win 10

The adventurous among you will know there’s nothing quite like taking down a ferocious boss to prove your gaming might. Until now, that’s been a tricky thing for Pocket Edition/Windows 10 crafters to do. Thanks to update 0.16 that’s about to change. Soon Pocket Edition/Windows 10 players will have access to some of the most ferocious mobs we’ve ever devised. But we’re not stopping there - the update will also include ocean monuments and the trinkets to explore them, a bunch of new blocks, beacons, and Slash commands. We’re calling it The Boss Update because it includes bosses, is “boss” in nature, and is in charge of hiring and firing all the other updates released so far. So yes, the big baddies. First, there’s the Elder Guardian who...

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What’s happening with redstone on Pocket / Win 10?

Hey there everyone! As you may have heard, we’ve been making a few changes to the way redstone works in Pocket / Windows 10 Edition - just part of our ongoing mission to give minecrafters as many cool tools as possible. Most recently, we’ve been trying to simplify the peculiarities of redstone without compromising on the power. Talking of power, right now a block can: give off power (often referred to as a strong signal or directly powered signal) be powered (often referred to as giving off a weak, or indirectly powered signal) be unpowered In the image below you can see this in action. The redstone block on the left gives off a strong signal, lighting up the adjacent lamp. But the lamp diagonal to the redstone block and the one...

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Fixes, FAQs and a changelog for 0.15.6

Earlier this week we put out an update enabling a massive suite of VR-specific features that let you play Minecraft Windows 10 Edition on the Oculus Rift. Since then, we’ve worked doubletime to put out fixes for some of the issues you were encountering. Details below! If you’re still having issues with your Magic Minecraft Goggles, scroll down and have a look through the FAQ we’ve prepared. As always, if you run into any bugs, please report them on Jira! We want to know what you think about our Oculus Rift integration. Click here to give us feedback! Changelog New Features: Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta now has Oculus Rift support! Wow! Tweaks: Better keyboard and mouse support when Oculus Rift is enabled. Tweaked Windows...

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Minecraft snapshot 16w33a

Oh happy day it’s Snapshot Time! We are releasing a new snapshot with several bug fixes, internal changes and probably also some new bugs. It would be amazing if you want to report any non-reported bugs you find in our bug tracker! Many thanks! While we plan to keep larger new features as a surprise to reveal at Minecon, some of the smaller changes will make it into snapshots in the following next weeks. And this snapshot has… Notable changes: Shields will now keep enchantment level and durability when crafted with banners Added an infinite loop Added some more subtitles More things will burn in the furnace (we don’t recommend wool as your main fuel though, and don’t even want to mention carpets…) We have not lowered the range for...

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Minecraft VR coming to Oculus Rift today!

How’s your face? Is it ready? Is it ready to have Minecraft right up in it? It’d better be: today we’re releasing a FREE update to Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta which will enable you to play Minecraft on Oculus Rift. Win 10 players just need to download the bespoke launcher from the Oculus store to get the full stereoscopic experience! Back in April, we released Minecraft VR edition for Gear VR. It was the product of many, many months of hard work, reshaping the game you know and love to precisely fit the new medium of virtual reality. After such an achievement, you’d think we’d pat our beleaguered VR team on the back and send them on holiday, but, instead, we tricked them back into the Coding Pits by saying we’d spotted a Mewtwo...

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Evil Live! Watch our devs stream their inner villains!

After the launch of the devious, the devilish, the downright dastardly Villains Skin Pack a week and a bit ago, our devs were inspired to build a special map in which those aspiring scoundrels could demonstrate just how demented they are. And tomorrow at 4.30pm CEST, we’ll be live-streaming a playthrough by our most murderous Mojangstas! Check this page again then and you’ll be able to watch an embed below AND download the map for yourself! The idea behind the map is that you and several so-called friends cooperate to complete a series of puzzles and challenges. This may not sound villainous, but here’s the twist: there can be only one survivor! Though you must collaborate early on, keep a beady eye on your companions. Those...

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Minecraft snapshot 16w32a

Snapshot time! What you all have been waiting for is finally happening. We are releasing a new snapshot with all the latest internal changes, improvements, bug fixes and some new bugs. Some of the internal changes are quite complex. If you encounter any problems that don’t have a bug report on our bug tracker already, please make sure to report them and help us improve the game in the next snapshots. While we plan to keep larger new features as a surprise to reveal at Minecon, some of the smaller changes will make it into snapshots in the following next weeks. And this snapshot has… Notable changes: Some mobs are now more afraid to get wet in the water There are now more spawn eggs for many different mobs and this time they are...

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The Survivors’ Book of Secrets now out in the US

Could you vanquish a zombie horde with a fishing rod? Or shut down a fortress assault with no more than a block of sand and a torch? The Survivors know how - they’re an elite group of players who’ve been around since the beta, living off their wits and in the shadows. Now they’ve stepped into the light to offer you their hard-won wisdom in The Survivors’ Book of Secrets. The UK was lucky enough to receive the Survivors’ genius in June, but, as of today, this mighty tome is available in the US. Hooray! Choose how to buy it here! Not only is it a rather useful book, but it’s a bit of a looker too - we were inspired by World War II era manuals, recreating the sort of hard-wearing, practical handbook that was given out to servicemen and...

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Mojang proud to stride at Pride

Last Saturday, Mojang was delighted to take part in Stockholm’s annual Pride parade - an amazing trundling carnival that this year braved both the burning sun and torrential rain to raise awareness for LGBT+ issues and promote free gender expression, love and equality. It was very cool and we were honoured to be a part of it. The Mojang crew, along with some 300 square balloons, took our place between Hard Rock Against Racism and a formidable force of badass roller derby warriors. Somewhere behind us were Vikings for Equality and a flat bed truck containing maybe 80% of the world’s total mass of beards. In the distant beyond was another vehicle carrying seemingly tireless, spandex-clad dancers, who managed to throw shapes for the...

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It's big. It's bad. It's changelog 0.15.4 for Pocket & Win 10!

What’s this?! It seems that while I was all snoozed up in bed, our dogged dev teams toiled away to unleash the 0.15.4 update of Pocket and Windows 10 edition - which contains the all new and diabolical Villains Skin Pack. Truly, evil never sleeps. The changelog’s a bit of a whopper, and since all devices are now getting the changes from the 0.15.3 update (previously only available on Google Play) it’s even bigger than normal! Monstrous, you might even say. If you find any pesky new bugs, please fill out a report on http://bugs.mojang.com Click here to give us feedback about the new release on our official feedback.minecraft.net site- we want to know what you think! Please note: we are aware of a possible crash when you set your...

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Minecraft on Windows 10 is one year old!

Happy OS-specific birthday to us! Today is the anniversary of Minecraft’s arrival on Windows 10. It’s been a busy year: 12,000 code check-ins, 6000 bugs squashed, 15 major updates and oodles of new features. We’ve bred bunnies of many colours, given squid a fear of mortality and set baby zombies astride squawking avian steeds. We unleashed the power of Redstone and found new ways for players to devise elaborate devices. We introduced our cross-platform Realms service, so players could own always-online worlds just for them and their friends, and play on them with minecrafters on mobile devices. We crafted special skinpacks - like the Villains pack we are releasing today! - and texture packs, too, allowing for even greater levels of...

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Villains skin pack ruthlessly conquers Pocket Edition

Got an evil streak? Let your inner demons out with the latest skin pack to hit Pocket / Win 10 edition! It costs $1.99 - although, as with all our skin packs, you get a few for free! The evilest of all giveaways! The Villains Skin Pack will be rolling out across devices at some point today. Grab it and join forces with Minecraft’s most dastardly denizens: slink from the shadows as the sinister Stronghold Seer, unleash the fury as the ferocious Lava Fiend, or, er, sell silverfish as the monstrous Silverfish Monger. The evilest of all mongers! Then there’s the grotesque Patchkin, the enigmatic Endergaunt, the chilling Eyece, the Terror Spawner, Dungeon Spectre, Slymime and Cake Maniac. There’s evil of every flavour: 17 skins in total -...

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Double DLC coming to consoles today!

Hello! I’m happy to announce that two pieces of DLC are landing on all console editions of Minecraft today! Grasp your digital wallet and prepare for purchase! First up, there’s Battle Map Pack 2. This competitive bundle includes three maps created exclusively for the Battle mini-game - Atlantis, Ruin and Siege. The pack costs $2.99 USD or equivalent, and comes with guaranteed good times. You can see some hot Battle action taking place in the screenshot below. In case you didn’t get the memo, Battle came to console versions a few months ago - it’s a free mini-game that tasks you with taking down friends and enemies in ferocious combat. You can play online or locally in split-screen with up to three victims. We’re also adding...

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Story Mode Episode 7 live next week. Here’s a trailer!

Having barely escaped the murderous mansion-dwelling maniac in Episode 6, new and even weirder hazards await Jesse and the gang as they explore the Portal Hallway. Doorways lead to a multitude of worlds - but each proves more dangerous than the last. How will the New Order of the Stone ever find their way back home? Perhaps the secrets of the Old Builders lie in a world of redstone riches. Surely such a place might conceal the incredible tech necessary to see our heroes home safely. But are such clever computing powers so easily contained? (No.) You can play this latest episode, titled “Access Denied”, next Tuesday July 26th. Episode 7 can be purchased as part of the $14.99 Adventure Pass - three extra DLC episodes that follow Jesse...

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Pocket and Windows 10 changelog 0.15.3 incoming

Hello everyone, Changelog time! We’re rolling out an update to all versions of Minecraft: Pocket Edition and the Windows 10 Edition Beta. It should be available to download on your phone, tablet, or Windows 10 machine soon. This update is mostly concerned with tweaks and bug fixes. It’s still worth downloading though, especially if the odd positioning of zombie jockeys was getting you down. Tweaks Multiplayer invite screen text alignment fixed Tweaks to moving blocks to make them work better & more consistently Fixes to horse breeding to make it consistent with other versions Tweaks to atlas generation Tweaked some Realms purchase functions Small tweak to mouse controls Store screen layout scales better now Bug Fixes Players...

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Project Malmo uses Minecraft to make AI smarter

We already knew that Minecraft could make players smarter - but now it’s being used to make computers smarter, too. The folks over at Project Malmo (two of whom, Katja Hofmann and Matthew Johnson, are pictured above) are using Minecraft as a platform to develop better Artificial Intelligence, and they’ve made their open source tool-set available to the public today. AI is already pretty good at specific, limited tasks: it can be taught to understand or translate speech, identify faces and generate text. How clever! But to make them smarter still, AIs need to be taught how to learn by themselves. The ambition is to achieve “artificial general intelligence” - not simply computers with an ability to solve individual problems, like...

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Cobalt is 65% off in the Steam Summer sale!

Hello! The PC version of Cobalt is featured in the Steam Summer sale! It’s got a whopping 65% off it’s standard price! If you’re a fan of crisp combat, cute robots, slick combat and absolute bargains, click the handy button below. I’ve embedded a trailer above but it you prefer promotional materials in written form, check out this unbiased piece on why Cobalt is so great. Thanks for ready everybody! Enjoy Cobalt! Owen - @bopogamel Continue reading...

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Calling all Agents: help us run MINECON 2016!

MINECON couldn’t happen without Agents: a super-special crew of awesome volunteers who dedicate ten hours of their weekend to helping the conference run smoothly. This year’s MINECON is bigger than ever, so we’re looking for even more fine folk to give us a hand. Sound like something you’re interested in? Over 18? Then apply right here! If accepted, you won’t need to pay for a ticket. You’ll need to apply by July 10, and you’ll hear back from us by email by July 18. You do have to put a deposit down of $60 which we’ll refund after you’ve successfully volunteered at MINECON. You only have to work one full day - outside of that you are free to enjoy MINECON as you please. Join us! Go on, go on, go on! Cheerio! Marsh - @marshdavies...

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The Minecraft movie has a release date!

Hello future Minecraft movie-goers! I know you’ve been thinking just about every day, “When’s the Minecraft movie coming out?” Luckily for you, we can finally say! The Minecraft movie will be released on May 24, 2019! The film will also be released in 3D & IMAX. 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. And we all want an awesome Minecraft movie, right? That’s it for now, but as time goes on we’ll share loads more. Loads! -Vu (@vubui) Continue reading...

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Check out our new site for Block by Block!

You might have heard this already, but Minecraft is a pretty cool, fun, popular game. We could have just stopped there and felt reasonably proud of ourselves. But we at Mojang also passionately believe that Minecraft is a Good Thing - not just an inspiring, delightful, mind-expanding pastime, but something that brings real, positive change to people’s lives the world over. That’s why we encourage Minecraft’s use as an educational tool and it’s also why we set up Block by Block - a partnership with UN-Habitat which uses Minecraft as a way of engaging communities in the development of public space, allowing locals to take control of their environment. Public spaces are super important. They’re the backbone of any community and a vital...

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The Minecraft merch motherlode

Hello! You might not have spotted this, but we’ve been updating the store over on minecraft.net, adding loads of hot, hot merch that you can buy from our partner, Jinx. We’ve got the latest Lego Minecraft kits up there now, so you can recreate the terror of the wither, construct tree-top safe-havens and snow-bound strongholds. Then there are Mattel’s snazzy new range of action figures - skeletons with firing bows and sheep you can sheer. And that’s not to mention the updated editions of our handbooks, coveted collectible mini figures, huggably soft plushies and loads of super duper tees. My favourite is this reversible pig plush. Turn it inside out and it instantly transforms into a pork chop! Just like a real pig! (Maybe?) Go...

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Minecraft 1.10.1

This is a smaller update taking care of some of the most annoying reported bugs. We are also planning to release another update for 1.10.x in a few weeks that takes care of some less critical but still annoying issues. Issues fixed in this version: [Bug MC-85162] - Slight player/mob offset when on Farmland Block [Bug MC-99914] - DataWatcher / EntityMetadata ID is based on the class load order [Bug MC-100333] - Entities from old (<= 1.5.2) worlds are killed when loaded in current versions due to a typo in the health data fixer [Bug MC-102072] - Structure Block: Unable to navigate in the “structure name” field of structure blocks, using the arrow-keys, pos1, end or the delete key [Bug MC-102867] - chat key bound to unicode char causes...

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Realms map round-up: puzzles, presents, and flights of fancy

Hello again, Minecrafters! Today we’ve got another selection of Minecraft minigames and adventures for you to try. Most Realms maps are available online through their creators, but we’ve gone the extra mile and worked with them to load the maps into Realms for PC. If you or a friend has a subscription, these adventures are available to play right now! Unsure how to load custom content into Realms? Here’s a handy help article for you. Now, let’s dig in! Captive Minecraft IV: Winter Realm by The Farlanders The Captive Minecraft series started in 2014, after the inclusion of world borders in Minecraft 1.8. You begin in a 1x1 play area, but each time you earn an achievement, that area expands. Open your inventory to get started! Terra...

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