The nextMinecraftupdate can be viewed in two halves. On the one hand, it emphasizes a scary new biome hidden at the bottom of the world, packed with treasure and new threats alike. On the other hand, it has a lot to do with adjusting the experience of theMinecraftoverworld, specifically inMinecraftswamps. Players can look forward to frogs, mangrove trees, and mud blocks that’ll make swamps feel more detailed and realistic than ever. However, Mojang has scrapped one planned swamp feature: fireflies. Since real-life frogs can’t eat some fireflies, Mojang has decided to remove these bioluminescent bugs from the upcoming update.
It’s a shame to think thatfireflies won’t come toMinecraftafter all, since they would’ve been a great help in improving the atmosphere of swamps. Hope isn’t entirely lost for fireflies, though. On the contrary, these insects would be an excellent new mob to include in a futureMinecraftupdate that’s all about adding new wildlife. Mojang has floated lots of new mob ideas in the last few years without implementing them; it’s time for the studio to revisit these ideas and put them in the game.Minecraftdeserves a major wildlife update that gives fireflies a new lease on life.
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Evolving the Minecraft Landscape
Over the last several years, Mojang has added a lot of newMinecraftmobs that make the game’s wilderness more engaging. Whether it’s the Update Aquatic’s fish and dolphins or Caves and Cliffs Part One’s axolotls and goats, all kinds of creatures have joined the ranks ofMinecraft.Each of these mobs are crucial to the game. No matter how many unique block types a biome includes, a biome without special mobs to populate it is bound to feel barren. That’s whyMinecraft’s upcoming swamp changesare so important. Swamps may already feature slimes in high numbers, but the frogs will make swamps all the more dynamic, and fireflies would’ve helped to do the same.
Mojang would be wise to give fireflies a second chance, especially if it comes in the context of a major wildlife update. The company has had plans to add new wildlife mobs toMinecraftfor quite some time now; Mojang has floated plans to add vultures in a badlands update, ostriches and termites inaMinecraftdesert update, and so on. Mojang could consider bundling these mobs into one big wildlife update forMinecraft,adding new life to a variety of locations rather than releasing an update that’s all about one specific biome. Fireflies could readily be added to this type of wildlife update, whether they still join the swamp biome or appear somewhere else in theMinecraftoverworld.
The Wild Update’s Ongoing Changes
In theory, Mojang could decide to add further mobs for biomes like deserts and badlands as a part of the Wild Update. The update’s name does imply an overall focus onMinecraft’s wilderness, so it would make sense if Mojang has further biome plans that it hasn’t revealed yet. Overall, though, the Wild Update will probably focus on swamps andthe Deep Dark biome. If Mojang’s intention was to update many other biomes at the same time, it probably would’ve said as much when the Wild Update was announced. There isn’t a hard release date for the Wild Update just yet, so there may be time for major surprises to join the update, but nothing is certain.
Regardless of whether the Wild Update expands drastically in the coming months, it’s unfortunate that fireflies are out of the picture. Even if they no longer acted as a food source for frogs, fireflies would’ve been a charming addition to theMinecraftworld.The Wild Update still has many other featuresfor fans to look forward to, but fireflies will have to wait until Mojang finds a new purpose for them. Perhaps they can be the cherry on top of a future update that’s all about newMinecraftmobs.
Minecraftis available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
