New Minecraft update revamping visuals and exploration finally has a date

Mojang has finally revealed exactly when both Vibrant Visuals and Chase the Skies are coming to Minecraft, and we don't have long to wait. Both updates are coming at the same time (but that's only for Bedrock players), and promise to completely overhaul the graphics and exploration of the game. If you've stepped away from Mojang's sandbox epic, or simply want to see what all the fuss is about, this imminent game drop is the perfect time to do so.

The next Minecraft update release date is big, so I'm going to start with Vibrant Visuals. This graphics upgrade has been a long time coming, and introduces a slate of new elements to overhaul the sandbox game. You can expect directional lighting, volumetric fog, improved shadows, and better water reflections, to name just a few of the changes.

Mojang wants it to still be the same Minecraft you've been playing all these years, but with Vibrant Visuals, you have more interplay between light and dark. The rays of the sun can crest across the Overworld, while each individual block will cast its own shadow in relation to where the light hits it from. Water and metallic blocks will also have reflections, while subsurface scattering gives the leaves and grass a nice glow. Vibrant Visuals might not impact gameplay mechanics, but it'll make Minecraft look like an entirely new game.

As for Chase the Skies, this game drop is packed with new mechanics to help make your exploration better than ever. The happy ghast is a new Minecraft mob you can use as a flying mount, but they require quite a bit of effort to obtain. You need to head to the Nether for a dried ghast block, and then nurse it all the way to the cute white friend Mojang has been teasing for some time.

Then there's the player locator bar, a massive quality-of-life feature that'll make splitting off from friends on your server much less daunting. The bar show you the direction your friends are in, and even tell you their elevation so you know whether you need to dig or climb to find them. You'll also have five new ambient music tracks to get stuck into, alongside another music disc you can loot from ghasts to add to your collection.

Minecraft Chase the Skies and Vibrant Visuals are both set for launch on Tuesday June 17. If you play on Bedrock you have both Chase the Skies and Vibrant Visuals at launch. If you play on Java, however, Vibrant Visuals won't be available in this version of the game until a later date.

If you want more, make sure you check out all the best Minecraft mods and Minecraft skins available right now.

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