Get your pickaxe ready: The next MineCon Earth show streams in September

Minecraft fans will be pleased to learn that the second annual MineCon Earth event will take place on September 29. The 90-minute interactive live-stream will cram all the “best bits” from previous conventions into one show for the entire world to watch for free. The event will feature pre- and post-show segments, along with several community panels. 

“The Minecraft community is still growing, and there’s only a certain number of players we can host while keeping the friendly, intimate community atmosphere that’s made previous MineCons so special,” developer Mojang said last year. “With that in mind, we’re pleased to announce MineCon Earth — an interactive show.” 

With more than five months to go before the second MineCon Earth event, fans have enough time to submit ideas for panels that could be prerecorded and played during the live show. They can even create a Minecraft-themed costume and submit the design. Select designers will be flown out to Mojang and highlighted during the broadcast. Winners will receive a “fantastic prize.” 

MineCon Earth isn’t just an in-studio show — it’s broadcast on stage in front of a live audience. Hosted by actor Will Arnett and Mojang’s Lydia Winters, last year’s show introduced the Update Aquatic slated for spring 2018, which will add coral, kelp, additional fish, explorable shipwrecks, new water physics, and more to Minecraft. The show also saw the addition of free content on the marketplace and the launch of a new Minecraft server: The Hive. 

MineCon Earth also revealed that Minecraft for Nintendo Switch will support cross-platform multiplayer in 2018. That means Switch owners will finally be able to play with gamers on the Xbox One, Windows 10, Gear VR, and mobile devices (nope, still no PlayStation 4). When that will actually happen is unknown for now, but Minecraft boss Helen Chiang recently said the update is coming soon. 

“When I think about what’s next for us — well, my job is really not to change the plan that we’re on, but to focus on a number of different things,” she said at the end of February. “The first one is bringing over more people to Bedrock through Nintendo, and that’s coming out pretty soon.” 

The first gathering to honor Minecraft took place in Bellevue, Washington, in 2010. The first MineCon-branded convention was held in Las Vegas in 2011, followed by Paris Disneyland; Orlando, Florida; London; and Anaheim, California, in successive years. Microsoft and Mojang then went all-digital in 2017 with the first annual MineCon Earth 90-minute show. 

The 2018 edition will showcase live gameplay and discussions featuring Lydia Winters and community co-hosts to be revealed at a later date. You’ll also find out what’s coming to the popular block-building game by streaming on the MineCon Earth website, YouTube, and other streaming sites.