We know this news is disappointing for many of you, but there are several reasons for this change. First, we strive to deliver the most polished experience possible, and including all of the Caves & Cliffs features in the summer update would have compromised the quality. And while the occasional bug is a reality in game development, we want this update to be an amazing experience and not devastate your carefully crafted worlds.
Because of the size of this update and the dramatic changes it will bring to the entire overworld, we will also have significant technical challenges to overcome before certain parts of the update are ready to ship. Take the completely redesigned world generation that affects all caves and mountains in Minecraft. With this function we are completely redesigning the world including the overall height. Not only do we need to consider all of the impact this can have on the world, but also how it affects performance. Basically, when we have more stuff in the game, it slows down the game and we want to avoid that.
Apart from technical considerations, we also value the health of our team. We have found that we would have to work very long to deliver all functions in the summer. and even then there was no guarantee that everything would be ready on time. After all, working from home as we deal with the pandemic is still a challenge – not just in terms of morale, but also by hindering teamwork. Because our workflow is so complex and collaborative, it takes longer if we don’t have the opportunity to reach out to someone and ask for help.
This wasn’t an easy decision, and we’re also disappointed that some really exciting features won’t be available until later. Even so, the best possible choice is to keep our team healthy, happy, and able to deliver great updates for many years to come. We’ll be doing some deep dives into the summer update in the coming weeks, but for now we can tell you that the first part will focus on some cute and fun mobs, cool items, and new blocks. There is a lot to look forward to and we work as hard as possible to bring you the full Caves & Cliffs experience.
