Mojang Studios needs clarity on Minecraft and ray tracing on Xbox Series X|S

It’s been 18 months since the initial release of Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and Series S console duo, and in that time, dozens of new games have been released that try to take advantage of its powerful hardware. Even many of Microsoft’s older first-party titles have since been updated to look and work better on the new consoles. Unfortunately, one game under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella refuses to shine on Xbox Series X|S, and players have little hope that it ever will: Minecraft.

Minecraft is one of the best Xbox games of all time, but is it one of the best Xbox Series X|S games? Eighteen months later, one of the world’s most successful and influential titles still doesn’t take advantage of the latest generation of video game hardware, despite longstanding rumors that something is in the works.

After a recent mishap that allowed a small handful of gamers to gain access to prototype code for what Minecraft can be on Xbox Series X|S, Mojang Studios needs to clarify what the future holds: where is the Xbox Series Optimized version? X|S? Minecraft, and why isn’t it here yet?

Minecraft on Xbox Series X|S

It’s not the first time I’ve talked about Minecraft on Xbox Series X|S. In particular, I spent a lot of time in my post assessing why Minecraft on Xbox Series X|S is an unfortunate disappointment, an article I wrote about 11 months ago which, sadly, has aged remarkably well. I have touched on the subject many other times, and all those words remain true no matter how long ago they were written.

I will not repeat everything I have said before at another time. Suffice it to say that Minecraft on Xbox Series X|S is still disappointing, and there has been virtually no improvement since Microsoft first released its powerful Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles. Of course, Minecraft works pretty much the same on Xbox Series X|S as it does on everything else It’s not a bad thing in and of itself: Minecraft remains a classic and timeless video game.

The issue stems from Mojang Studios’ puzzling lack of communication on the matter; something I covered when discussing why the legendary studio sometimes feels like a much smaller and underfunded studio than it actually is. Minecraft players eagerly awaiting the arrival of improvements for Minecraft on Xbox Series X|S, especially for the long-rumored ray tracing now available on Windows PCs, have been left with little choice. or no reason to expect better.

All that changed at the end of March 2022, until Mojang Studios once again dashed all hope.

A short-lived lightning flavor.

On March 28, 2022, it appeared on Twitter that a small number of users signed up for Minecraft Preview on Xbox Series X|S had gained access to a new “optimized” version. The elusive build turned on the “ray tracing” switch in Minecraft settings and allowed Xbox Series X|S owners to experience an early build of Minecraft in all its beautiful, ray-traced glory. Many gamers understandably got very excited about the leaked version, clearly indicating that Mojang Studios was finally getting ready to test a current version of Minecraft with gamers.

Unfortunately, the fun was short-lived. Just three days later, Mojang Studios removed ray tracing support from players lucky enough to have it, issuing the following statement:

The previous Minecraft Preview build available to Xbox Insiders inadvertently included prototype code for ray tracing support on Xbox consoles. This early prototype code has been removed from Preview and does not indicate any near future plans to bring ray tracing support to consoles.

Although the statement does not explicitly Deny that ray tracing is still planned for an eventual release on Xbox Series X consoles | Yes, it shattered any assumption that it would at least get into early testing with the Minecraft community any time soon. Even more egregious was Mojang Studios’ stubborn insistence on remaining deliberately vague and aloof, immediately returning to “business as usual” after the statement and refusing to bring it up again.

For a few days, a handful of gamers glimpsed the future of Minecraft on Xbox Series X|S, rough and unfinished as it was. This negligible window of time interrupted months of total silence from Mojang Studios, despite repeated and endless complaints and questions from the Minecraft community, only for the same heavy silence to return as if the bug had never occurred.

It’s time to come clean

It’s obvious that Mojang Studios never intended for gamers to see the leaked build, and the status of the build made it clear that ray-traced Minecraft on Xbox Series X|S isn’t finished. However, Mojang Studios cannot rescind what has already happened. Even ignoring the studio’s insistence on secrecy ahead of the leaked build, it’s inexcusable to blatantly dismiss the situation with a singular and ambiguous statement without providing any additional information to the community that Mojang Studios relies on to make Minecraft the game it deserves. it is.

It may very well be true that a current-gen update for Minecraft on Xbox Series X|S is far from ready for release; it may even be true that Mojang Studios isn’t sure of its timeline or how long such an effort will take. Game development is an iceberg of complications with a lot of things hidden under the surface.

What we do know is that ray tracing was originally demoed on Xbox Series X using Minecraft in March 2020. More than Two years later, an early version fell into the hands of the Minecraft community that enabled ray tracing in Minecraft on Microsoft’s current-gen consoles. We didn’t learn anything in that two-year gap, and we haven’t learned anything since. It’s time for Mojang Studios to come clean on their progress so far and tell the Minecraft community the lowdown on Minecraft and ray tracing on Xbox Series X|S.