Throughout the pandemic, it seemed as if Minecraft had made a vicious comeback. With everyone seemingly having more free time on their hands, many turned back to the game they loved so much when they were younger. People fell back into the obsessive golden pit that is Minecraft. Even now, when quarantine has been lifted, the game remains popular.

It’s not surprising that Minecraft has remained such a timelessly popular game. The game interface is highly customizable and personal, with the ability to program the game yourself to make personalized servers and game modifications. Thousands of programmed public servers now exist, all with a variety of options of games. Players can log on for free and play games with friends and strangers, make new friends and sometimes use it as a source of income; specific servers may draw in profits by offering in-game currency for money. 

Part of the reason why Minecraft remains a class video game is that the game can always be changed and developed. Game modifications, popularly known as Mods, allow players to add what they believe the game lacks directly into play. There are also modifications known as shaders, which add depth to the game through perspective lighting, more realistic water dynamics, and sometimes even wind that flows through the grass and trees. With this almost infinite amount of alterations that you can put into the game, the game rarely feels stale and overplayed. The ease of technological simplification as far as programming goes has made this process significantly less complicated. 

Another factor that keeps players returning to the game is the devedevelopers’lity to make great updates that keep people intrigued. When the Nether update was released, it was a massive addition to the game. It drastically changed the Nether -the hellish alternate dimension in the Minecraft world-, adding new kinds of forests and creatures. For players that were used to the original, drab Nether for the entirety of the gamegame’story, the update brought back players and increased interest in the community. 

Now, the Minecraft development team has announced another new update, one that has left fans practically shaking with excitement. The Caves and Cliffs update is set to completely change the programming into cave and mountain generation, increasing their variability to the point that caves will have more variety than the surface. It’sIt’supdate that fans have consistently been asking for since the gamegame’stial release. The update is currently set to release in late 2021.

Previously, the caves had been boring and drab, with nothing to see except stone, ores, and monsters. The update introduces massive new caves, stalactites and stalagmites, lush green caves, and even amethyst caves. They are also adding new animals such as axolotls, something shocking to fans. There is more big news; in an interview where they released information regarding the latest update, they announced that there would be a new hostile monster that they were excited to see in the game. The monster, known as the Warren, is a brand new kind of blind mob and finds the player via ground vibrations. The amount of damage it does is nothing players have seen before. Game developers said they wanted to reinstate the fear that players feel on their first night in the game. Players are excited and fearful for this new addition. It will forever change the formerly somewhat peaceful dynamic of the caves. 

It is without question that Minecraft is currently more popular than ever. With its variety of gameplay options and relatively frequent large-scale updates, the game stays fresh and interesting, keeping players coming back for more. What the future holds for Minecraft and its development will undoubtedly be interesting to see.