14 DAY TRIAL // The team at Mojang in charge of the development of Minecraft is announcing that it plans to launch the major 1.9 update for the title on February 25 of this year. Moreover, it is now allowing the most dedicated fans to get access to a pre-release snapshot that will give them a chance to experience some of the core changes.
The official announcement explains that, until Thursday of next week, the studio might introduce more snapshots and that a full list of the tweaks associated with the update will only be offered once the final version is out.
Mojang says a range of bugs have been eliminated while shields have received an increase in durability, and that changes are being made to the final boss fight.
The studio explains that "To get snapshots (or, in this case, the pre-release), open your launcher and press the New Profile button. Call it snapshots and check the box saying Enable experimental development snapshots and save. To switch to the normal version, you can select it in the dropdown at the bottom left corner of the launcher."
The snapshots can corrupt a game, and Mojang says all players should create a complete backup before downloading the pre-release version of Minecraft.
1.9 is the first release in what fans have dubbed the Combat Update for the game, and it's set to change the game in some major ways, with a focus on the battle system and the final confrontation.
According to Mojang, the core feature was already done in late October 2015, and since then, the studio has focused on testing all the changes to make sure that they deliver the intended results, and players can continue to contribute reports about bugs until February 25 for the inevitable post-release patches.
The Minecraft wiki offers a more extensive take on the kinds of tweaks that the development team will deliver as part of update 1.9 for the video game.
A new Overworld update is coming to Windows 10 version of the title
Mojang and Microsoft have announced that they are trying to introduce more Redstone components to make sure that gamers have the tools to create more complex mechanisms while also giving them a chance to meet with witches and their cauldrons.
An import and export feature for maps is also coming to Minecraft as part of Overworld, but the two companies are not yet committing to a launch schedule for it on either Windows 10 or on mobile devices.
In 2016, Mojang will also create a special version of the game that will be used by teachers in classrooms, with unique new features that are set to improve the education process.
Mojang is also working with Telltale Games on the development of a new season of Story Mode after the solid reception that the first one received from fans.
The game might also be one of the first to be featured on the coming HoloLens augmented reality device when Microsoft finally launches a consumer version, presumably before the end of the year.