Minecraft Is Getting Its First New Dimension Since 2011

In the wake of layoffs and studio reshuffling at Xbox earlier this week, Mojang held a Minecraft Live showcase to make several Minecraft-related announcements. While we didn’t get a look at the next movie, Mojang revealed a game-changing addition to Minecraft. Next year, the Sift dimension from Minecraft Dungeons 2 will come to the survival crafting game, marking the first time a new dimension has been added to Minecraft since it hit 1.0 in 2011.

What was announced at the September 2026 Minecraft Live?

Mojang gave us a first look at the Sift at Minecraft Live and confirmed it will be added to Minecraft Java Edition and Minecraft Bedrock Edition in 2027. Before then, the Sift will play an important role in Minecraft Dungeons 2, a Diablo-like action-RPG spin-off set to launch on Sept. 29. From Minecraft Dungeons 2‘s segment of Minecraft Live, we can tell the Sift is an ethereal, spirit-world-like dimension.

Currently, Minecraft consists of three fairly ubiquitous dimensions: the Overworld, the Nether, and the End. By the time the game exited its public alpha and beta testing in Nov. 2011, all three of those dimensions were part of the game. In the nearly 15 years since, Mojang has simply expanded the content available in those dimensions rather than adding any new ones. That’ll finally change next year.

While that’s certainly the highest-profile announcement from this Minecraft Live, the reveals didn’t stop there. Mojang showed how the next game drop will add ice caves as a new underground biome. In ice caves, players can fight the new Frozen Zombie mob, equip and craft the ice balls those enemies fight with, and mine ice crystals.

Image: Xbox Game Studios

Sound Effects packs will also come to the Minecraft Marketplace by the end of the year. As for the new announcements outside the game, we learned that Chessington World of Adventures’ upcoming Minecraft World theme park will include a coaster called Escape the Nether and open alongside a Minecraft-themed hotel in 2027.

A Wilderness Bound community challenge announcement and a tease for a more robust “creator platform” for those who make in-game Minecraft content were also made during Minecraft Live.

Finally, Mojang reiterated that Minecraft will launch on Nintendo Switch 2 on Oct. 27, adding to the large number of platforms the game is already available on. It certainly seems like quite a busy and fruitful time to be a Minecraft fan.