Mojang Studios Divides Coming Cliffs & Caves Update For Minecraft In Two Parts, Archeology Pushed To Next Year

Just last year, developer Mojang in celebration of more than ten years announced to be rebranding the Swedish game studio. In that, the team that conjured the $2 billion purchase from Microsoft would be going under a new alias now, Mojang Studios. The team pressed to lengthen its title as there are more in this operation outside of the singular team and Minecraft now a decade later.

And with the developer now under a new face, the same can also be said for Minecraft later this year. At Minecraft Live, Mojang Studios announced that the largest surface update for the game is scheduled to take place in 2021 – the Cliffs & Caves update. The client install is said to feature new world generation to the titular mountains and caverns which define the title.

But, Mojang Studios in a new update presses that the update is a bit ambitious for a singular release and will be dividing it into two. One scheduled for the addition of blocks this summer while the major world generation patch is to come later this holiday.

We know this news is disappointing to many of you, but there are several reasons for this change. Firstly, we strive to deliver the most polished experience possible, and including all the Caves & Cliffs features in the summer update would have meant compromising on quality. And even though occasional bugs are a reality of game development, we want this update to be an amazing experience, not wreak havoc on your meticulously crafted worlds.

Because of the magnitude of this update and the dramatic changes it brings to the Overworld as a whole, there are also significant technical challenges we need to overcome before certain parts of the update are ready to ship. Take the completely revamped world generation, which affects all the caves and mountains in Minecraft.

With this feature, we are completely reshaping the Overworld, including the build height. Not only do we have to consider every effect this can have on the world but also how it will affect performance. Basically, having more stuff in the game also slows it down and we want to avoid that.

Atop of the concerns for delivering as obstacles are larger than they appear to the developer, Mojang Studios also remarks on the COVID-19 pandemic that still halts work since its teams are working remotely. “Technical considerations aside, we also prioritize our team’s health. We’ve come to realize that to ship all the features in the summer we would’ve had to work very long hours; and even then, there would’ve been no guarantee that everything would be finished on time.

“Lastly, working from home as we cope with the pandemic is still challenging – not just in terms of morale but also by hindering teamwork. Because our workflow is so complex and collaborative, not having the option to walk up to someone and ask for help makes everything take longer.”

To lighten the mood, Mojang Studios in a recent April Fool’s gag launched Minecraft Plus. While a joke on the surface, it is a real download for fans to enjoy. Essentially, you can run the client which gives your desktop Minecraft-inspired screensavers. You can read the full report by heading here.

Are you fine with the decision for the Cliffs & Caves update?

Minecraft is available now for PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS.

Source: Mojang Studios