After completely revamping how Minecraft does updates, the devs will unveil the first features of the new era this month

Minecraft's new era is upon us, as the devs at Mojang recently announced plans to completely revamp how the studio handles updates. We're finally going to know what the first round of those updates will look like with the return of Minecraft Live on September 28.

Minecraft Live is officially set to broadcast on Saturday, September 28 at 10am PDT / 1pm EDT / 6pm BST via YouTube and Twitch. "We’ll be unveiling never-before-seen game drops," the devs explain in the official announcement, "giving you exclusive insight into new things coming to the world of Minecraft, and more! It’s all coming to you directly from the developers at the Minecraft HQ, here in Stockholm. We’ve also prepared an after show where you’ll get to watch our developers go even deeper into the updates and play through new content for the first time ever." 

"Game drops" are the main new update format for Minecraft. Rather than annual(ish) patches piled with new features, the devs are simply going to add free updates throughout the year whenever those individual new features are ready. We got something of a preview of this with things like the Armored Paws update earlier this year, but Minecraft Live will be the first glimpse at what to expect since Mojang announced the big update revamp.

This will also be the first Minecraft Live since the retirement of the mob vote, which is going to be a relief to many longtime fans. In previous years, Minecraft Live would be accompanied by a poll letting the community choose one of three new mob designs to be included in the game. The votes typically drummed up a whole lot of interest, but they've equally caused a fair amount of drama and disappointment in the community as the campaigning wore on each year.

Minecraft Live is now set to be a twice-annual event, so you should expect another one of these in roughly six months' time. Here's hoping this month's showcase sets the bar high.

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