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Perhaps Mojang’s biggest announcement at Minecraft Live today was a major new expansion for the open-ended sandbox game called The Wild. Coming in 2022, The Wild is a celebration of the beauty and majesty of the outdoors and underground settings of Minecraft‘s world.
One of the new biomes added in The Wild is the Mangrove, which is a forest, of sorts, that exists on top of water. The mangrove is home to new wildlife, including frogs (a commonly requested addition from the community), as well as boats to use and chests to unlock. In addition to frogs, there are tadpoles, too, and the frogs and tadpoles represent Minecraft’s first cold-blooded animals. The frogs eat fireflies, which are also new to Minecraft.
The Mangrove also includes a new tree regeneration system that allows them to pick propagules off trees and replant them. The Mangrove is also home to a new type of wood, mud blocks, which can be crafted by mixing water and clay. Walking on mud makes you sink slightly.
The Wild update also takes players to the Deep Dark biome, which is set deep underground in a ruined civilization. It is overgrown with a strange new set of blocks called Skulk blocks, and it is the home of the evil Warden. This enemy has no eyes, reacting only on vibration. As such, players will be sneaking around, trying to avoid detection. This is among the first stealth-based components to Minecraft, the developers say.
The Deep Dark and the Warden were previously expected to release in 2021 but have shifted to a new date in 2022 that has not been announced yet. It’s been a long time coming, as the Warden was announced for Minecraft back during Minecraft Live 2020. In addition to the Warden, the evil Shrieker enemy will spawn with the Warden and is another force to be reckoned with. The Deep Dark also has chests containing loot that can only be found in Deep Dark.
What’s Next For Minecraft Dungeons
Mojang made a series of other announcements at Minecraft Live today, including what’s next for Minecraft Dungeons. A new live-service element called Seasonal Adventures is coming this December. Players can complete weekly challenges to earn points that they can spend on cosmetics like skins, capes, pets, emotes, and “flairs” that make their character perform a specific action when taking down an enemy or levelling up, for example.
Season One of Minecraft Dungeons’ new Seasonal Adventures is called The Cloudy Climb. It adds a new location, the Tower, which is a single-player experience. You start with a blank-slate character called the Tower Avatar and you make your way up the floors of the tower, which are populated with mobs, and each one more difficult than the last. Each floor is themed and has new enemies, and progress can be saved between floors, which take only a few minutes to complete.
Mojang plans to release a new Tower about every two weeks, and the Tower is global and the same for everyone. Everyone who completes the Towers gets multiple rewards, while those who even attempt it will receive a reward for their efforts, too.
Mob Vote
What’s more, Mojang announced this year’s Mob Vote, which calls on the community to vote for which mob they want to see added to Minecraft in the future. The options include the following (written by Mojang):
Glare: The Glare is a flying/floating mob that hates the darkness and will help players determine if it’s dark enough for monsters to spawn. It searches for too-dark areas, flies there and shows the player with a special sound and animation that it does not like the darkness. The Glare is tameable and can be carried in a bottle or bucket.Allay: A peaceful, cute and helpful mob that loves to collect items and loves music. The Allay collects items that match what it holds, bringing those collected items to the player. If a note block is playing nearby, the Allay drops the items there.Copper Golem: Adding additional usages for copper, the Copper Golem is constructed by players and can fully oxidize over time, freezing in place like a statue. The Copper Golem will randomly press copper buttons, adding entropy to Minecraft
Big Stats
Finally, Mojang shared new statistics about Minecraft that speak to the game’s massive and enduring popularity. The game has players in every country on Earth, including Antarctica and Vatican City, Mojang said. More than 500 million people in China alone have registered for Minecraft, while the game has sold more than 238 million copies to date. In August 2021, the game set a new record for monthly active users, reaching 140 million. And it’s not just Mojang that makes money off Minecraft, as the Minecraft Marketplace has paid out more than $350 million to creators selling their mods and add-ons. And more than two-thirds of all Minecraft players make use of fan-made Marketplace content each week, Mojang said.
Mojang made other announcements at Minecraft Live, too, including Minecraft coming to Game Pass on PC and that Minecraft’s Cliffs & Caves Part II expansion will be released this year.
