Highlights

• Minecraft players can log in from May 15-29 for daily rewards in celebration of the game's 15th anniversary.
• The upcoming 1.21 update, Tricky Trials, will introduce new blocks, mobs, and underground structures to the game.
• Minecraft's success is attributed to its creative freedom, game modes, community, and regular updates.

Minecraft will be giving away free items to players during the latter half of May to mark the game's 15th anniversary. Mojang Studios' popular sandbox experience is set to receive a major update that will introduce a host of new content.

Before fully launching in late 2011, Minecraft had long been publicly available to PC users, with the very first version of the game releasing on May 17, 2009. A campaign to mark the title's upcoming 15th anniversary has just been unveiled, and those who participate in the event will be given a number of special in-game rewards.

As part of Minecraft's 15th anniversary celebration, players can log in every day between May 15 and May 29 to claim a free Character Creator item. The Character Creator is Minecraft's customization system that gives players the ability to modify their skins with free and paid-for cosmetic items. Each of the 15 rewards featured in the anniversary event will represent a different year in the history of Minecraft, which is one of the best-selling game franchises of all time.

Mojang Studios revealed in October 2023 that Minecraft had already surpassed 300 million sales at the time. In comparison, the title's closest rival, Rockstar Games' critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto 5, had sold 195 million copies as of February. Minecraft's success can be attributed to several factors, such as its core promise of endless creative freedom, varied game modes, dedicated community, and regular updates.

Minecraft 15th Anniversary Free Items Event Duration

• May 15 to May 29, 2024

The upcoming 1.21 update for Minecraft, Tricky Trials, is expected to arrive in mid-2024. Aside from implementing a long list of tweaks to things that are already in the game, this release will introduce several new blocks like the Crafter, a Redstone-powered tool that can be set up to automatically craft items. Tricky Trials will also add procedurally generated underground structures called Trial Chambers to Minecraft that will contain new Copper-related blocks and offer players new hostile areas to explore during the mid-game.

This combat-focused update features two new Minecraft mob types, the Bogged and Breeze, as well. The Bogged is a moss and mushroom-covered Skeleton variant that shoots poisonous arrows and naturally spawns in either swamps or mangrove swamps. The cunning and hostile Breeze behaves like a wind-oriented version of Minecraft's Blaze mob that only appears in Trial Chambers. Breezes can deflect all forms of projectiles, which forces players to engage in close combat while avoiding the mob's explosive Wind Charge attack.