From Minecon to Minecraft Live: How much has the annual live event changed?
Minecraft has become a massively popular game over the years. Millions of fans want to know whatever update or news the developers have regarding the game. As a result, Mojang Studios hosts an annual event in which they talk about upcoming features, updates, and more.
However, Minecraft Live, as we know it, was not like it. This article will look at the evolution of the annual event, from Minecon to Minecraft Live, and what’s next for the future of this event.
Minecon 2010 to 2016
Calling the beginnings of the Minecon event humble would not be an overstatement as the event started even before the official release of Minecraft in 2011. It was a small event and only a few of Notch’s friends and family members were a part of it. However, this small event would go on to become a global event over the years and become one of the most anticipated events in the gaming industry.
For the subsequent years, the Minecon event would get bigger and more impactful with major updates being released during the event. This was also the time when fans of the game could get tickets and attend the entire event as it was an in-person event.
From 2010 to 2016, Minecon was an in-person event that fans could attend by purchasing tickets. Despite the tickets being quite expensive, the number of people who appeared was impressive, to say the least. The number of fans coming to the event changed from just a few in 2010 to 12,000 in Minecon 2016.
Minecon Earth 2017 t0 2018
Minecon Earth 2017 was a complete format change from the Minecon event. Minecon Earth was live-streamed on the official Minecon website and it was completely interactive. It was a 90-minute long livestream that anyone could join, where fans saw the announcement of the famous Update Aquatic.
In 2018, the Minecon Earth was live-streamed in a very similar format as the previous one. The Village and Pillage update was announced during this event. 2018 was the last time these events would be called ‘Minecon’ as the very next year, players got to see a rebrand with a familiar name.
Minecraft Live 2019 to 2023
In 2019, Minecon was rebranded to Minecraft Live as the scale and impact of these yearly events got bigger. MC Live was still a live-stream event but unlike Minecon which was hosted on their official website, MC Live was streamed on YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook along with the official website.
Some of the most impactful updates, such as the Caves and Cliffs update, Trails and Tales, and even the Tricky Trials update, were released during these live events. Mob votes were a major part of this event in which fans of the game would select one of three mobs to be added to the game.
Minecraft Live 2.0
Mojang Studios recently announced that they will be changing the format of the Minecraft Live event. Instead of hosting it once a year, this live event will be hosted twice. They also mentioned that the Mob Vote is also retired and the updates will be smaller and more frequent. It would be interesting to see what else the developers will do to make the event more impactful.