At Minecon, Mojang and Microsoft announced the next big update for the blocky adventure game.
Minecraft is a craft 'em up extravaganza taking place in a blocky, Lego-like world. Users can mine resources, build huge castles, and even craft complex machines using the game's circuit logic and other mechanisms.
The team at Microsoft has been hard at work on a new engine for the game, that allows it to run across Windows 10, iOS, Android, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch using the same codebase. Players on the "bedrock" editions of the game can all connect and play together on rentable dedicated servers known as Minecraft Realms.
What's next for Minecraft, you might be asking? Well, in a recent interview Microsoft spilled all the beans to us.
Update Aquatic
The most exciting thing on the horizon for Minecraft is the next update, dubbed "Update Aquatic." This will add boatloads of new features to the game's oceanic areas, including coral reefs, shipwrecks, new aquatic species, and more.
In the update, players will also be able to access new enchantments to help them traverse the depths, and a new weapon in the form of a Trident, allowing players greater efficiency when fighting mobs in the sea.
The update will include things like new tropical fish with randomly generated colors. You'll even be able to capture them in buckets and make your very own aquarium, too. The update will include puffer fish (complete with the ability to puff) and various other oceanic species, breathing new life into the game's mostly barren underwater locations.
Xbox One X update "imminent"
Update: We also heard that the awaited Xbox One X Super Duper graphics pack release will be "imminent," although it seems as though to Mojang, "imminent" means 2018. Previously the Microsoft Store listed a December launch date, but was since pulled.
The Super Duper Graphics Pack will add 4K resolution, new 3D objects and items for environments such as grass, reflective lighting on surfaces, and volumetric sunshine giving the game's world a new sense of depth and immersion. It also includes stunning new water effects and much bigger draw distances, giving Xbox One X owners an experience that is currently only available with mods on the Java PC version.
Minecraft is coming to Adventure Time
Following on from the Adventure Time skin pack, Cartoon Network and Mojang are teaming up for a special Minecraft episode of Adventure Time in the summer of 2018.
Awesome future for Minecraft fans
With the Bedrock Edition of the game shipped, the developers can turn their attention back to shipping large updates such as the Aquatic update, while bringing more polish to the cross-platform versions of the title.
Stay tuned to Windows Central for all the latest on Minecraft.