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Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£35.99View Essential Hardware Dune: Awakening PC Gaming Show Recommended reading Survival & Crafting Mojang has just killed support for Minecraft VR, an underrated but very flawed VR experience Survival & Crafting Minecraft is bringing back the copper golem from the mob vote graveyard, igniting my hopes for a Moobloom comeback Survival & Crafting Minecraft Chase the Skies drop: Everything you need to know about the next update Survival & Crafting Minecraft Vibrant Visuals update: everything you need to know about the cosmetic upgrade Survival & Crafting Minecraft is rolling out its first glow up in years tomorrow Survival & Crafting You won't have to rely on co-ordinates to track down your friends in Minecraft thanks to its upcoming drop Survival & Crafting For the first time since launch you'll finally be able to craft saddles in Minecraft Survival & Crafting It's been a year since Minecraft ditched annual summer updates, and I have to admit there's never been a better time to play Elie Gould 16 July 2025 I was a hater at first, but I've since done a 180. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Mojang) I don't like change. When I first heard that Mojang decided to end the yearly summer Minecraft updates and do away with the controversial mob vote, my initial reaction was to deny it was even happening. Then, when my friends told me that this was our new lived reality, I got angry. I tried bargaining with some unseen force to undo what I saw before me, and in my lowest moment, I decided I'd never touch Minecraft again. Hours later, my friend told me to stop being such a baby and to jump on Realms, which I did, albeit reluctantly. Best of Minecraft (Image credit: Mojang) Minecraft update: What's new? Minecraft skins: New looks Minecraft mods: Beyond vanilla Minecraft shaders: Spotlight Minecraft seeds: Fresh new worlds Minecraft texture packs: Pixelated Minecraft servers: Online worlds Minecraft commands: All cheats Minecraft build ideas: What to build next But almost a year on from this monumental change in how Minecraft is managed, I can finally admit to myself that the world didn't stop spinning on September 8, 2024, and that the game is actually in the best shape I've seen for a while. Since then, we've had a shed-load of new content for Minecraft. Almost immediately after the announcement that there'd be no more major updates, we got the Pale Garden Biome accompanied by a new sinister mob, the Creaking, which everyone started shipping with the Warden (they tore each other apart like pulled pork). Related Articles Mojang has just killed support for Minecraft VR, an underrated but very flawed VR experience Minecraft is bringing back the copper golem from the mob vote graveyard, igniting my hopes for a Moobloom comeback Minecraft Chase the Skies drop: Everything you need to know about the next update There's also been a major aesthetic upgrade thanks to Vibrant Visuals, which introduced shaders into vanilla Minecraft, Chase the Skies, which brought the Happy Ghast to our doorstep, and the Spring to Life update, which gave us biome variants for pigs and cows. But there's much more embedded in these smaller updates than what I just mentioned; usually, they'll also bring small quality-of-life changes and cool new features like finally being able to craft saddles or bringing back the Copper Golem. The last major update done in the old style was the Tricky Trails update in 2024, which brought trail chambers, automatic crafters, and even more dastardly skeletons, the Bogged. I'm always up for a new mob, but other than the Bogged, this update felt slightly lacklustre. (Image credit: Mojang) Minecraft reached a point where the annual updates were hit or miss. Having to encapsulate every new feature under one theme was predictably difficult. A good theme could produce any number of wonderful ideas. I'll never forget how wonderful the Caves and Cliffs updates, both part one and two, were. Both were released during 2021, a time when I seriously rediscovered my love for Minecraft, and it brought a complete overhaul to Minecraft's landscape, adding more spectacular mountains and incredibly complex caverns, which saw to my undying need to mine for coal and create vast underground cities. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. But an iffy theme that didn't lend itself well to what Minecraft needed could be quite dull. Those were the constraints that Mojang had to work within, and it was pretty restrictive. The Buzzy Bees update, for example, revolved around bees. Now I adore these fluffy little guys, but the entire update just added bees and bee-related items—it was pretty minuscule compared to some previous updates. (Image credit: Mojang) There was also a good amount of unrest from the community thanks to these yearly updates. Some players could grow frustrated about how infrequently we all got new features. I remember seeing a good deal of irritated players in the comments every Minecraft Live, saying that the devs aren't working hard enough. I never agreed with that, but at times it was easy to forget that things were changing in Minecraft at all. Now players get bombarded with new content for Minecraft, and it's fantastic. As I mentioned before, there have been five major updates for Minecraft over the last year, each giving players so much more than they'd previously have gotten. The updates also feel more holistic now. Mojang no longer needs to squash everything into one mould; the devs can just add new features to Minecraft when and where they see fit, as there's no overarching theme anymore. The Spring to Life update added tons of new features pertaining to animals like pig and cow variants and craftable saddles, but that's not all. We also got several new maps that cartographers can sell, each one pointing towards a different structure or village, which will greatly help players quickly explore the terrain. Thanks to all of this, Minecraft feels vibrant again, the creative space that I always knew it to be. It's really nice getting loads of announcements periodically about all the new great things coming up. I do still miss the excitement and grandeur of waiting for the big update to be announced at Minecraft Live, but it's something I've easily been able to get over once I realised how great the alternative is. Mojang Studios News Writer Elie is a news writer with an unhealthy love of horror games—even though their greatest fear is being chased. When they're not screaming or hiding, there's a good chance you'll find them testing their metal in metroidvanias or just admiring their Pokemon TCG collection. Elie has previously worked at TechRadar Gaming as a staff writer and studied at JOMEC in International Journalism and Documentaries – spending their free time filming short docs about Smash Bros. or any indie game that crossed their path. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Mojang has just killed support for Minecraft VR, an underrated but very flawed VR experience Minecraft is bringing back the copper golem from the mob vote graveyard, igniting my hopes for a Moobloom comeback Minecraft Chase the Skies drop: Everything you need to know about the next update Minecraft Vibrant Visuals update: everything you need to know about the cosmetic upgrade Minecraft is rolling out its first glow up in years tomorrow You won't have to rely on co-ordinates to track down your friends in Minecraft thanks to its upcoming drop Latest in Survival & Crafting Minecraft says to hell with it, adds in-game version of Lava Chicken song, which you get by beating a chicken jockey Krafton confirms Subnautica 2 leak showing that the publisher wanted more content for the early access launch, leading to delay and leadership ouster Krafton accuses former Subnautica 2 bosses of abandoning the game in surprising new statement: 'We feel a profound sense of betrayal by their failure to honor the trust placed in them' Subnautica 2 publisher Krafton confirms 2026 delay, says the change 'was not influenced by any contractual or financial considerations' Roblox's hot gardening game gets a crack squad dedicated to new events after players kicked up over old ones being 'rushed and not very inspired' Minecraft Copper Golem: All the key details about the game's next companion Latest in Features Cop Bastard is a retro first-person shooter that's exactly as aggressively weird as you'd expect from a game called Cop Bastard My desktop has been overrun by virtual pop sensation Hatsune Miku goodies from Asus, but I'm here to tell you that it really is a case of style over substance Neverwinter Nights 2 is one of the best RPGs you've never played, and if you like Baldur's Gate 3 or Disco Elysium, you owe it to yourself to check out its new Enhanced Edition Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition is an excellent, subtle remaster and my new Steam Deck game of the summer Think you know gaming? 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