Since its inception back in 2009, Minecraft has been one of the most popular and expansive games in history, but with a portion of its player base being absent from the game for many years, now could be the best time to hop back in to the world and discover all of the newer features that have been added along the way. Minecraft left beta back in November of 2011, and the years that followed were some of its biggest in of growth, especially with a wave of YouTube creators trying to make it big in the Minecraft community. After the creator of Minecraft, known by his in-game name Notch, left the team after it was officially released, there were a few years where the game was not really making any big moves, which is when a huge number of players began to tune out and Minecraft mods began adding the coolest new features to the game. However, after the Microsoft acquisition in late 2014, things began to change and the gears started to turn again, making it a perfect time to hop back into Minecraft
With each new update, Mojang continues to shift the bar and turn Minecraft into an eternal game. Whereas most games that are over a decade old have been long abandoned, Minecraft has pushed forward and has been releasing one or two major updates each year for the past few years. While the Minecraft modding community is seemingly infinite and constantly growing, the base game has been moving forward at a steady rate, slowly bridging the gap between mods and the official client. While many older players have been out of the loop for a long time and have moved on to other games in their library, with the Wild Update on the horizon, and Minecraft's Caves & Cliffs update making big changes last year, there's never been a better time to jump back into its world.
Because Minecraft is such a vast game, seemingly infinite in scale, some players may find it hard to stick with a game that gives the player complete freedom to do whatever they want. While there is a structure to Minecraft and its gameplay, it does give players the freedom to play how they want and do things in any order they want, without any quest objectives to guide players in any direction. Without any NPCs to guide players down a path or rewards for doing quests, Minecraft can be difficult for certain players to dive into. However, with huge updates releasing every year, like Minecraft's update bringing new Ancient Cities, as well as an enormous library of modding opportunities, there are more things to do in Minecraft than ever before.
Participating In Minecraft's Snapshot Developments
For the past few years, Mojang has made available to the public a preview build of the next Minecraft update that is known as a snapshot. These previews can be ed from the Minecraft launcher and are updated almost weekly during a development cycle so that Mojang can receive player for features. This snapshot service also helps the developers because players can discover many of the bugs that the studio could miss on its end, making the final release for updates smoother and more complete. For players that left Minecraft years ago and are looking for a reason to jump back in, these snapshot previews are a great way to play updates early and experiment with in-development features, such as allowing players to explore Minecraft's latest snapshot with The Deep Dark biome.
While the subject matter in snapshots is subject to change due to them being in development, these previews have become a core part of the Minecraft community and engage the player base in a way that few other games do. Players that come back to Minecraft after a long break could find these snapshots engaging because they display experimental content, giving the player agency to test out new features and have fun with the game in a new way. Snapshots are only available during certain windows of the year, but when they are accessible, the community jumps on the opportunity and actually influences the future of Minecraft with their , providing an incentive for players that have long since left the game to give their input on future content.
Applying Mods & Shaders To Minecraft
Along with Mojang providing players the opportunity to experiment with update snapshots, with Minecraft 1.18 bringing massive changes to the game, it also has one of the largest modding communities in video games, allowing players to tailor their experience fit their needs in nearly any way imaginable. Mods can fundamentally change Minecraft in unexpected ways, adding in magic, new dimensions, and expanding on core features of the game. While mods need to be revised each time Minecraft updates its official version, they are still a popular solution in keeping the game engaging and enjoyable, especially for players that have put Minecraft down for a long time and are looking to dive back in.
In tandem with mods, shader packs are also very popular because they make for a more visually appealing game while also adding in small benefits, with Minecraft's best shaders for 1.18 making the new terrain more grand and exciting. Shaders, like mods, can tailor Minecraft to fit the player's needs, with some shader packs dedicated to making the graphics look as realistic as possible, while others can make the game look more artistic and colorful. Shaders typically are more graphically intensive and require higher-end hardware, but if a person is looking to get back into Minecraft after a long hiatus, adding a shader to the Minecraft client is a great way to give it a whole new identity and make the game feel fresh again.
Any game that survives for over a decade is bound to have a drop-off of players over the years, and many of Minecraft's original player base has long since moved on. However, with the modding community being more expansive than ever, shader packs bringing a new identity to the indie title, and Mojang offering snapshot previews and a consistent update cycle every year, Minecraft has never been more alive and continues to push itself in new directions, making it the best time for older players to return to their blocky worlds. The next update, known as the Wild Update, will release later this year and is bringing some of the biggest changes to the game yet.
