Mojang Studios has revealed they won’t be able to release the Caves & Cliffs Update in its entirety this summer. Due to three reasons one part of the update will be delayed to Holiday 2021. The three reasons given for this delay are quality, technical challenges and team health.
”Firstly, we strive to deliver the most polished experience possible, and including all the Caves & Cliffs features in the summer update would have meant compromising on quality. And even though occasional bugs are a reality of game development, we want this update to be an amazing experience, not wreak havoc on your meticulously crafted worlds.
Because of the magnitude of this update and the dramatic changes it brings to the Overworld as a whole, there are also significant technical challenges we need to overcome before certain parts of the update are ready to ship. Take the completely revamped world generation, which affects all the caves and mountains in Minecraft. With this feature, we are completely reshaping the Overworld, including the build height. Not only do we have to consider every effect this can have on the world but also how it will affect performance. Basically, having more stuff in the game also slows it down and we want to avoid that.
Technical considerations aside, we also prioritize our team’s health. We’ve come to realize that to ship all the features in the summer we would’ve had to work very long hours; and even then, there would’ve been no guarantee that everything would be finished on time. Lastly, working from home as we cope with the pandemic is still challenging – not just in terms of morale but also by hindering teamwork. Because our workflow is so complex and collaborative, not having the option to walk up to someone and ask for help makes everything take longer.”
This Summer will see the release of new mobs, items and biome blocks. The second update this Holiday will see the changes in world generation.
