Minecraft Live 2021 is almost upon us, and this Saturday 16th October we'll get to find out what's in store for everyone's favourite block-mining video game.

Over the course of the week, Jens Bergensten and Agnes Larsson, the Lead Designer and Game Director of Minecraft respectively, have been teasing some of the content ahead of the stream on the weekend. Here's what we know so far — and we'll update this as we find out more, of course.

Minecraft Live 2021

How To Watch Minecraft Live 2021

We'll be running a live blog on Nintendo Life, so you can watch along with us there — obviously the very best place to be!

As you'd expect, Mojang will be hosting the video on their social media channels, too.

  • When: Saturday October 16th, 2021, 5PM BST / 12PM EDT / 9AM PDT
  • Where: YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, Minecraft Live website
  • How: You can watch on any phones, tablets, PCs, and game consoles with internet connections

There will also be American Sign Language and Audio Description versions of the stream available on YouTube:

Check the image below to see more of the broadcast times in your time zone:

Minecraft LIVE Time Map
Image: Mojang

What To Expect from Minecraft Live 2021

A vote between three new mobs for the game is set to take place on October 16th. This mob vote is how we got the Glow Squid after the 2020 Minecraft Live stream, which beat out the Moobloom (a flower-themed cow) and the Iceologer, an illager who hurls flying ice clouds.

The new mobs to choose from are:

The Allay

Allay
Image: Mojang

The Allay is a friendly mob, who takes items and finds more of them — if you're in need of sticks, bones, or emeralds, for example. He also dances, and flies. He's adorable. If you have a Note Block in your world, that's where he'll drop off the items that he's found.

The Glare

Glare
Image: Mojang

One of the major changes that will come to Minecraft in Caves & Cliffs Part Two is the way mobs spawn. Currently, if the light level is low, you'll get Creepers, Zombies, Skeletons and more turning up, but soon, that will only happen in total darkness, which means your builds will no longer be plagued with torches. The Glare can help you in this regard: He will fly over to dark areas, and throw a tantrum, because he hates the dark. Thanks, Glare!

The Copper Golem

Copper Golem
Image: Mojang

The Copper Golem, like his friend Iron Golem, is a big lad made from copper. The difference with this lad is that, over time, he will age and develop that lovely copper patina... and when he's green, he'll freeze into a statue. You can build it yourself (presumably with 4 Copper blocks in a T-shape, like how the Iron Golem is made), and it apparently "loves to randomly press Copper Buttons". There's probably a really cool Redstone application for that, but we're not good enough at Redstone to know what it is. It's worth noting that if the Copper Golem wins, then Copper Buttons will also be added to the game!

Info on Minecraft Dungeons

Minecraft Dungeons has received a lot of attention over the last year, with a ton of DLC and cross-play, so it'll be interesting to find out where this RPG-style spin-off goes next.

The Next Update

Last year's Minecraft Live introduced us to the Caves & Cliffs update, and Mojang did confirm earlier this year that the 1.19 update would hopefully be announced during Minecraft Live 2021.

Community Highlights

Minecraft is built on its community creations, and it knows it — the website features them regularly, and so does Minecraft Live. We'll likely see some fascinating, creative community builds and servers during the show.

Smash Bros and amiibo

Steve and Alex are getting amiibo, so we'll probably get to see them on the stream this week — maybe scanning them will do something special in Minecraft?

Caves & Cliffs Part 2

Maybe we'll get to see a little more of the second part of the update, including the biome generation, the new mobs, and how the Shulk Sensors work!

The Warden

We'd really like to see a little more of the terrifying, hard-to-kill new Warden mob, who lives in the new Deep Dark Biome, ready to wreck your sh*t.

Some Mild Speculation

It's not a live event without a bunch of barely-founded rumours, right?

New Boss?

The original announcement trailer was... sort of nonsense, to be honest. In a good way, of course — but it promised three things: Quadromorphic Ender Vision. Pillager Raid-eo Sound, and the B.E.A.C.O.N. Broadcasting System.

But maybe all of that wasn't quite as nonsense as we thought. Some people are speculating that the Ender Vision represents the Ender Dragon, the Pillager Raid-eo Sound represents... the Pillager Raids, obviously, and the B.E.A.C.O.N. is a hint towards the Wither, which you need to defeat to make a Beacon. These are the three boss fights of Minecraft... so could we be seeing more?

Of course, we already know about the Warden... Maybe it's him?

Warden
Image: Mojang

Release Date?

We've all been waiting patiently for the Caves & Cliffs Update Part 2, which will add new world generation, new mechanics, the Deep Dark Biome, and new mobs to the game. All we know about it so far is that it's due to release "later this year"... But Minecraft Live is a perfect time to tell us when, exactly.

The latest Minecraft Snapshot — a preview of upcoming updates — is 21w40a, which is an improvement on the first Caves & Cliffs Part 2 Snapshot, 21w37a. This Snapshot has changed the ore distribution, fixed world generation errors, and mob spawning rules, but it's not clear how close to release it is yet.

Minecraft VR/AR?

Minecraft VR came out late last year on PSVR, but do you remember that incredible Alternate Reality Hololens demo at E3 2015? Yes, it's VERY scripted, EXTREMELY misleading, and almost DEFINITELY not consumer-ready, but still, it would be nice to hear more about it. Not that it affects Switch players much.

Brand Partnerships?

Minecraft LEGO was massively successful, so we wouldn't be surprised to see new sets, or other collabs with other companies. How about a Minecraft Colourpop palette? Animal Crossing got one, after all...

Bee Armour????

Bee Armour
Image: Mojang

BEE ARMOUR??????????


Are there any Minecraft Live 2021 rumours you've heard? What would you like to see? Let us know in the comments below.