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Minecraft falls into the Nether Update next week

The long-anticipated Nether Update brings Minecraft players into a brave new fiery world next week.

Ozzie Mejia

June 17, 2020 10:45 AM

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It's been quite a year for the Minecraft franchise. Mojang is coming off releasing its spin-off, Minecraft Dungeons, but there is still a massive audience for the world-building original game. Fans of the latter are in for a treat, because Minecraft is about to receive a massive update. The long-anticipated Nether Update is finally set to release, with Mojang announcing that it is coming next week.

First revealed during last year's MINECON Live event, the Nether Update will take players out of the Overworld that they're so accustomed to and throw them in the realm of the Nether. As one might expect, this biome is filled with lava and much of it is uninhabitable. But the part that is inhabitable is filled with new mobs, like the Piglins. They're a neutral mob and you can appeal to them, as long as you have goods that they might want.

So players might be asking themselves, "If the Nether is so dangerous, why leave the Overworld at all?" The answer is that it contains the new element netherite, which is classified as the strongest, most durable metal in Minecraft. The Nether is filled with it... and sadly, the Piglins have run off with pretty much all of it. But there's still netherite scrap out there and if you can claim it, you can craft some of the strongest items in all of Minecraft.

The Nether Update also brings along a few new items to Minecraft as a whole. Target Blocks are set to be one of the game's biggest additions, allowing players to trigger switches by firing off an arrow. The Minecraft developers previously noted that Target Blocks could be used to help players develop better accuracy, create mini-games, or create secret triggers for their base camps.

Those who want to learn more details about the Nether Update can visit the Minecraft website. The Nether Update will hit all versions of Minecraft (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, Mac, Linux, etc.) on Tuesday, June 23.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?