What is the Minecraft update for 2025? Ghast lore, capes and a new live event
With the theatrical release of "A Minecraft Movie" right around the corner on April 4, it seems the team over at Mojang Studios are giving players a new update to the game just in time for the film's release.
On Sunday, March 23, the 2025 Minecraft Live took place on the Minecraft YouTube channel and game developer Mojang announced never-before-seen game drops, showed exclusive movie content and even had some celebrity appearances including Emma Myers ("Wednesday") from the upcoming live action Minecraft movie.
If you didn't catch Sunday's livestream, here's everything you missed about what's coming to Minecraft in 2025.
Minecraft isn't just getting one game drop in 2025. It's getting multiple game drops, according to the recap of the live on minecraft.net.
More features will be released more frequently in the form of game drops throughout the year and because of that there will be another Minecraft Live show later this year to give even more updates.
The first game drop of the year is called "Spring to Life" and it releases to all platforms on Tuesday, March 25. This drop will include warm and cold variants for some of the classic mobs, new ambient features like the glittering firefly bush, falling leaves and whispers of sand in hopes of players making their Overworld travels and builds more immersive.
A lot was shared in the Minecraft Live event. Here's a recap of all the updates coming to Minecraft in 2025:
New mobs: new warm and cold pig variants, along with a new cow variation.
Firefly bush: a new plant block that emits glowing firefly particles.
Falling leaf particles: all tree types will have falling leaves.
Leaf litter: a new decorative block can be found in forests, dark forests and wooded badlands that can also be used as fuel.
Wildflowers: a new flower type that grows in the birch forests, old growth birch forests and meadows that can be used as dye or decor.
Ambient sounds: new ambient sounds like howling wind and desert sounds.
Loadstone crafting: the crafting recipe for loadstone has changed and now players can find them in ruined portal chests.
More game drops throughout the year and more updates coming later with a second Minecraft Live event.
Emma Myers, one of the stars of the upcoming "A Minecraft Movie," came to the live to share a new in-game Live Event where players will be able to play mini-games inspired by the movie, including saving Midport village from a piglin attack.
The Live Event will take place from Tuesday, March 25, until Monday, April 7, 2025, on all Bedrock Edition platforms. Players will need to complete all the challenges to be awarded an exclusive cape that will unlock in both editions of the game.
The second game drop from Minecraft this year will include the dried ghast, a new block that can be found in the Nether.
These new ghast blocks can be taken to the Overworld to be rehydrated into a ghastling, which can grow to be happy ghasts, a friendlier version of the ghasts of the Nether. Players can put a harness on their happy ghast, mount it and fly around your world.
There's no 1.22 Minecraft update this time around. Instead, players will need to look out for the various game drops happening throughout the year, which will include updates to the game.
Meredith G. White covers entertainment, art and culture for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. She writes the latest news about video games, television and best things to do in metro Phoenix.
Ready Player 1?: Biggest video games in March 2025 and where Arizonans can play them
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: When is the Minecraft update coming out? Here's what's new
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