Minecraft is finally going to run at 4K on Xbox.
As reported by Windows Central, Minecraft Preview 1.20.60.23 will be coming with an update that enables 4K on both Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. The same update is coming to Xbox One but it won’t be enabled there.
While it can be disappointing for Xbox One owners, it is understandable. If it is possible to extract that kind of performance out of the Xbox One, it may no longer be worthwhile to do so. Unlike Sony owners, most Xbox owners made the jump from Xbox One to Xbox Series.
Windows Central also notes that this update does not improve overall performance on Xbox Series X|S. In other words, loading times, framerates, and other metrics do not improve with this update.
The dearth of updates for Minecraft on Xbox Series X|S is a matter of priorities. While it’s great that Minecraft is doing so well on multiple platforms, and there is always something going on with the game, the work of keeping multiple versions updated has meant improving performance on Xbox was not a priority.
If anything, Mojang may have gone ahead with this update so that they won’t be too far behind with the quality of Minecraft when it hits the Xbox Series mid-generation upgrade, which we know is definitely coming because Microsoft accidentally leaked it themselves. And of course, it is in anticipation of the next console generation, which may have 4K as a minimum baseline, or even higher.
Alongside this update, Mojang has acted on the results of their Minecraft Live 2023 Live Mob Vote and added Armadillos as the next live mob. Armadillos are friendly, will roll into a ball when threatened, and eats spider eyes. You can brush Armadillo armor to get scutes, AKA, bits of their body armor, to drop off their bodies, for you to use as you wish.
Scutes can be used to make armor for your other pets. In particular, Wolves will be well protected if you craft them wolf armor using the scutes you collect from Armadillos.
It’s crazy to say that this is the most meaningful update we have received from Minecraft all year. However, when you consider just how loaded with major AAA game releases, and high profile video game industry news, 2023 was, it makes a lot more sense.
We’re not quite sure if this is enough to keep Minecraft players happy, but at least Mojang isn’t facing down a Destiny 2 level revolt from fans right now. Maybe they will have more to share in 2024.
