Why adding a season update to Minecraft isn't as simple as you may think

Minecraft has many biomes, such as the jungle biome, the desert biome, and the savannah. These regions have different types of trees, weather, and even animals. While the biomes have many differentiating factors, getting dynamic seasons in the blocky world is one of the most sought-after features.

One of the most-voted posts on the Minecraft feedback website is about adding a seasons update to the game. This shows how much players want Mojang Studios to add dynamic seasons in Minecraft. However, bringing such an update might be more complicated than you can imagine, and here are the reasons why.

Note: Aspects of this article are subjective and reflect the writer's opinions.

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The scope of the update

The update would be too massive to implement in Minecraft (Image via Mojang Studios)

Adding something as massive as a season update in Minecraft might be too big for Mojang Studios. The developers have changed the updated structure of the game, focusing on releasing smaller but more frequent updates compared to a large annual update.

A seasons update affects not just the biomes but every block of the game. It affects the mobs, the texture, and even the gameplay mechanics. This makes implementing such an update very challenging. And it is one of the features that cannot be added in small batches. It would be a massive update that changes the game in a drastic way, something that the developers would avoid.

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Performance issues

Too many dynamic elements in Minecraft can hamper performance (Image via Mojang Studios)

Minecraft is the most played game in the world. It is available on PC, Mac, iOS, Android, all consoles, and handheld devices. In fact, it is one of the most widely available games in the world. Adding an update for a game that runs on so many different machines is a challenge in itself.

While a powerful PC might be able to handle the dynamic changes with the season, a lower-end smartphone that barely runs the game might not. You might say that it should be a toggleable feature so that capable devices can use this feature.

However, developers still have to optimize the feature to make sure it does not break the game, which is another tedious task that requires time and money. Mojang Studios would likely prefer to use its resources to add smaller updates.

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Conflict with gameplay mechanics

Some elements of Minecraft might not work well with changing seasons (Image via Mojang Studios)

Adding a seasons update will also conflict with some present gameplay mechanics. For example, to ensure that different seasons are not just for aesthetics but also affect the gameplay, winters would reduce the growth of some crops. It will also affect the yield of other items, such as seeds, and decrease animal mob density.

Another issue is with redstone, an important item used for making automatic farms, doors, and even complex machines such as computers. A lot of these machines can be broken due to water freezing and affect the redstone layout.

Having flowers and plants near the base is something a lot of players do. But what would happen to your garden when winter comes and all your flowers dry out? Realism in the game can get frustrating after some time.

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Issues with biomes

Biomes have their own set of rules that might conflict with seasons (Image via Mojang Studios)

A major issue with something like a season update is how things would affect the biomes with specific properties. For example, deserts are hot and dry. But what happens when winter arrives? Would you see snowfall in the dry regions of the game? If not, then should the snowfall be restricted to the biomes around the desert that are often attached to it?

It would be bizarre to see a snow-covered region attached next to a dry and dead desert. The entire transition of the biomes, along with the hundreds of minor changes, would be a big issue for the processing power of the device, making the game difficult to run.