Minecraft Live 2025 Unveils: Vibrant Visuals, Flying Happy Ghast Revealed

Minecraft Live 2025 has concluded, and Mojang has unveiled an exciting array of new features and upgrades set to enhance the world's best-selling video game. The first game drop of the year, dubbed "Spring to Life," is scheduled to launch on March 25. This update will bring the Overworld to life with new variants of cows, pigs, and chickens, alongside captivating ambient features such as the glittering firefly bush, falling leaves, and whispers of sand. These additions aim to make the game's biomes feel more immersive and alive, offering players fresh reasons to explore.

The second game drop, still unnamed, promises to introduce the Dried Ghast block, which can be rehydrated to transform into a Ghastling—a baby ghast. This new mob variant can further evolve into the Happy Ghast, which players can harness and fly with, accommodating up to four players at once. The Dried Ghast block is slightly smaller than a regular block, featuring cute little tentacles and a grumpy face. Once rehydrated, the Ghastling floats like a balloon in the Overworld, and feeding it snowballs will help it grow into a Happy Ghast. The new Locator Bar feature will help players find friends while flying on these Happy Ghasts, enhancing the social aspect of the game. Mojang also highlighted that the Happy Ghast could revolutionize building in Survival Mode, offering a near-Creative Mode experience.

Mojang also announced a significant visual upgrade called 'Vibrant Visuals,' described as the first step towards a transformative visual experience for Minecraft players. This upgrade focuses purely on enhancing visuals without affecting gameplay. For more detailed insights into Vibrant Visuals, check out IGN's separate article and visuals comparison video.

Adding to the excitement, Mojang shared a new clip from the upcoming "A Minecraft Movie" and announced a movie-themed in-game live event starting March 25. This event, set in Midport Village, will immerse players in a multiplayer experience alongside Steve and other movie characters, defending the village from piglin attacks through three engaging mini-games. The event runs until April 7, with participants earning the coveted Yearn cape upon completing all challenges.

Minecraft Live 2025 showcased Mojang's commitment to evolving the game while maintaining its core essence. From our visit to their offices in Sweden, we learned about Mojang's stance on not creating a Minecraft 2, keeping the game non-free-to-play, and avoiding the use of generative AI in development, ensuring a focused and authentic gaming experience for players worldwide.

Minecraft Live 2025 — everything announced:

• Mojang Studios announced the name, launch date, and features of the first game drop of the year, as well as upcoming features in the second game drop of the year.
• The first game drop of the year is called “Spring to Life,” and introduces a variety of updates to the Overworld that will make biomes feel more immersive and alive.
• Spring to Life adds warm and cold variants of some of Minecraft's classic mobs, new ambient features like the glittering firefly bush, falling leaves, and whispers of sand, and more reasons to explore.
• The second game drop of the year includes the new Dried Ghast block, the new Ghastling and Happy Ghast mob variants, and the Ghast harness.
• The Dried Ghast is a little bit smaller than a regular block and has cute little tentacles and a grumpy face.
• If you pick up the Dried Ghast from the Nether and put it in water, eventually it will become a much happier Ghastling.
• The Ghastling floats around the Overworld like a little balloon. Feed it snowballs and eventually it will grow up to become a flying Happy Ghast.
• If you craft a harness for the Happy Ghast, tempt it to come closer with the harness itself, then jump on it. From there, you and up to three other players can fly around on a single Happy Ghast.
• The new Locator Bar feature, positioned at the bottom of the screen, lets you see in which direction your friends are. That will be useful for finding friends while flying a Happy Ghast.
• Mojang said the Happy Ghast will be useful for Survival Mode builders, because "it's a bit like being in Creative Mode, but in Survival." The platform lets you position wherever you like in the sky and dismount.
• Mojang Studios announced a visual upgrade for Minecraft, titled Vibrant Visuals.
• Mojang revealed an exclusive A Minecraft Movie clip and announced an in-game movie-themed live event.
• The live event takes place in Midport Village, and sees players join Steve and his companions from the movie in an evolving multiplayer experience where you defend the village from a piglin attack in three mini-games.
• The live event runs from March 25 to April 7, and if you complete all the challenges you earn the Yearn cape.