MINECON is here and we’re excited to bring you more details about the next big update for Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta, Minecraft: Pocket Edition and Minecraft: Gear VR Edition, releasing on Oct. 18.

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, the Boss Update is bringing boss battles to these versions of Minecraft for the first time. We’ve tweaked the Wither boss battle, added the Elder Guardian and its Ocean Monument filled with goodies for building and adventuring, and even introduced slash commands so you can tweak the game itself by summoning, teleporting and more.

Also arriving in the Boss Update will be the first iteration of Add-Ons. With Add-Ons, you’ll be able to experiment with remixing components of entities or characters in the game. By editing simple text files, anyone can tweak Minecraft itself to add enormous explosions to tiny chickens or make villagers run at lightning speed to chase away any new monster mob you choose to create. Worlds you create with Add-Ons can be shared with others directly or uploaded to your Realms and accessed anytime, anywhere.

If you’d like to look at some examples of what you can do with Add-Ons, we’ll be providing free downloadable examples on Minecraft.net once the update rolls out on Oct. 18. These examples will include the Alien Invasion Add-On we showed at E3 as well as the first community-created Add-On called the Castle Siege Add-On, created by our very talented community members SethBling, BlockWorks and the Mindcrack crew. In the future, we plan for Add-Ons to grow and include the ability to alter items, blocks and even more. For even more details about Add-Ons and a handy FAQ, check here!

In addition to new gameplay features and the ability for players to customize the game itself, we’ll also be adding new input options. The Boss Update will allow you to use your Xbox Wireless Controller with Bluetooth while you’re playing the Gear VR and Windows 10 Editions.

MINECON is just getting started for the weekend, and if you haven’t tuned in yet, you can follow along with all the festivities by checking out our livestreams all weekend.

Thanks for playing and we’ll see you online.