During this weekend’s Minecon live stream Mojang announced tonnes of new information about the upcoming release of Minecraft Earth, along with the details of new and exciting features.

Minecraft Earth will release in early access in October in some countries and will then become available in more countries soon after that.

Currently, Minecraft Earth is in a closed beta stage, where only a few select players have access to the game. To be legible for the closed beta, you must live in one of the 5 chosen beta cities and own a compatible device.

Read here our handy guide to check if your device is compatible with Minecraft Earth

One major announcement that stood out was that “the early access version of the game will bring new features that players in the closed beta have yet to play, including new mob variants, crafting and smelting, and our take on social multiplayer experiences called Adventures“.

In other words, crafting, smelting and Adventures will be released next month when the game leaves closed beta!

Skin Customization

If you’ve been a reader of our site for long, you’ll know that skin customization was leaked for Minecraft Earth months back. However, Minecon was the first official acknowledgement Mojang have given towards the new feature.

Mojang revealed that players will be able to customize their skins from premade looks. You will be able to select a hairstyle, its colour and the individual clothes you wear.

Capes are also making their way into Minecraft Earth. In fact, you can get your first cape for free right now over on the Minecraft Marketplace.

Emotes were also announced. They sure are a funny looking thing. Perhaps inspired by their popularity in Fortnite, they allow you to get down and dirty with the latest moves. Just how they will be used in Minecraft Earth isn’t yet known.

It was also announced that players will be able to unlock new clothing items by completing achievements. For instance, the Lumberjack shirt is unlocked after chopping down a tree.

Adventures

A prominent part of the Minecraft Earth Minecon segment was the demo of an upcoming adventure. It began with a puzzle, involving placing the correctly coloured flower in the corresponding plant pot. This opened up a can of worms as hostile skeletons and zombies flooded the area, forcing the hosts to fight them off using bows and swords.

As a reward for their efforts, the hosts were given a chest. Inside it was a spawn egg for the new mob, the Moobloom. It’s important to remember that everything you gain from an Adventure is shared. So every player that took part got their very own Moobloom!

New tappables (and crafting!)

A minor but notable update was the fact that new tappables were seen on the Minecraft Earth map. A picture tells a thousand words, so below is a screenshot.

New tappables in Minecraft Earth

Also, the Crafting and Smelting button is not greyed out like it is in the beta. This is because it’s a feature which we expect will release with the Early Access edition of Minecraft Earth next month.

That’s everything we learnt from this years Minecon event! What did you think of Minecon 2019? Let us known in the comments below!

PS: We’ve recently launched our “Guide for Minecraft Earth“ app on the Google Playstore. If you’re looking for guides and tips for Minecraft Earth, please be sure to check it out. (leaving a review is really appreciated!)