Overhauling Minecraft's world generation was like 'trying to build a skyscraper with hand tools' which basically scared Mojang off of continuing massive yearly updates

Overhauling Minecraft’s world generation was like ‘trying to build a skyscraper with hand tools’ which basically scared Mojang off of continuing massive yearly updates | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these Survival & Crafting Hytale lead says they’re pushing for modding in part because they ‘hire from the community’: ‘We’re building a scrappy, agile team full of people who actually make things’ Survival & Crafting Minecraft has finally revealed the name of its baby mob update, and I honestly didn’t think it could get any cuter but here we are Survival & Crafting Minecraft Tiny Takeover drop: Everything you need to know about the first update for 2026 Sim My favourite virtual co-working game has received its first content update, and the new minigame will no doubt derail my productivity for a bit Gaming Industry Fallout co-creator Tim Cain says less is often more in game design: ‘As a very wise designer once said to me, a game that includes everything is about nothing’ Survival & Crafting Minecraft’s lead dev says Hytale is ‘very polished’ but he’d rather just play Minecraft, and Hytale boss says he’s ‘probably right’—for now Life Sim All the Stardew Valley 10th anniversary announcements, including new romance options and a giant Pelican Town desk mat to replace your map keybinds Survival & Crafting The Slice of Life Minecraft add-on has become my new obsession after I realised I just needed a break from the mines Survival & Crafting It was a good year for survival crafting sickos, and I’ll be playing some of these well into 2026 City Builder Cities: Skylines 2’s new developer celebrates the occasion with a debut patch all about death, making citizens pop their clogs around the clock and removing immortality in easy mode: ‘Previously, about 80% of them never died of old age’ Survival & Crafting How to watch Minecraft Live 2026 Survival & Crafting I completely missed a new item being introduced to Minecraft in my excitement over its new baby mobs, and you bet I’m going to hoard thousands of them MMO RuneScape details its plans to scrap its ‘Treasure Hunter’ microtransactions, rework combat, and dole out other ‘integrity-focused releases’ for its 25th anniversary Life Sim Stardew Valley has basically become the Tolkien of cozy gaming Survival & Crafting Minecraft Live will return on March 21 and promises ‘behind-the-scenes secrets, awesome guests, and more exciting stuff to come’ over the next year PopularNEW: PC Gamer Clips!MarathonArc RaidersBest PC gearQuizzes Games Survival & Crafting Minecraft Overhauling Minecraft’s world generation was like ‘trying to build a skyscraper with hand tools’ which basically scared Mojang off of continuing massive yearly updates News By Lauren Morton published 11 March 2026 Mojang got so in over its head overhauling all of Minecraft’s world generation tech five years ago that it swore off yearly title updates not long after. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Mojang) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter PC Gamer Get the PC Gamer Newsletter Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday GamesRadar+ Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you’re going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. 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From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we’ve got you covered. Signup + Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Signup + An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Back in my day there were only three channels on TV and one Minecraft update per year. For years, Mojang’s schedule revolved around the annual title update crammed with new mobs, new biomes, blocks, and enemies. That mindset changed in 2021, its general manager says, when the Caves & Cliffs update grew so ambitious that it had to be split into two releases and Mojang backed off mega sized yearly updates thereafter.Speaking at the Game Developer’s Conference this week, Minecraft general manager Ryan Cooper shared a panel with King’s head of live operations on Candy Crush, Eva Ryott, to talk about the secret sauce of working on two games that have stood the test of time for 15 years each. Among those secrets were listening to player feedback to drive new game updates, a commitment that Cooper says really pushed Mojang’s processes to the limit a few years back. (Image credit: Mojang)Mojang teased the Minecraft Caves & Cliffs update back in 2020 with a pretty huge feature list including major changes to how Minecraft’s worlds are generated. Cooper described work on that update as being highly influenced by Minecraft’s players. “We were getting so much feedback from our community that we just decided to take on additional work,”