Minecraft Vibrant Visuals makes the game look more like you imagine
Minecraft LIVE – March 2025: VIBRANT VISUALS
Minecraft first added RTX support around five years ago, and now it is finally getting an official update that takes advantage of the feature. The new Vibrant Visuals update is not out just yet, but it will be soon for both the Java and Bedrock versions, although it will most likely come to Bedrock first.
The update brings quite a few changes to the way lighting works in-game. Not only will certain enemy’s eyes glow (like Spiders and Enderman), but you’ll also get light shining through the windows of your base. Water will have reflective properties, and light will filter down through the water and give the world beneath the waves a more murky, ethereal look.
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Another big change is the addition of proper shadows. They’re now pixellated and line up with existing blocks in a way that makes sense for the aesthetic of the game world.
The update is backward compatible with all existing worlds, too — all you have to do is enable it in settings. If you have a favorite world (and at this point, who doesn’t?) just log in, pick the right time of day, and flip on Vibrant Visuals to see how the light makes your builds look. The update runs locally, so you can enable it on multiplayer servers even if your friends’ rigs can’t handle the graphical demand. They won’t see it, but you will.
Mojang was quick to point out that despite the upgrade, the game still looks and feels like Minecraft. This won’t affect how it plays, and it won’t take away from the familiar comfort of the game. Vibrant Visuals is an upgrade, but not a total overhaul. The team says there are plenty of fan-made mods out there that completely transform how Minecraft looks, and that players are more than welcome to utilize those if they want to take the graphics a step further.
There’s not a firm release date, but according to a GameSpot interview, it’s coming “very, very soon.”
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This new Analogue Pocket looks just like my actual Game Boy Color
Analogue is unleashing yet another nostalgic Pocket onto the world. The handheld manufacturer announced Tuesday that it’s releasing a limited-edition Game Boy Color line that’ll go on sale September 12 on its website and start shipping on September 16.
The new Analogue Pocket comes in six nostalgic colors: kiwi, teal, grape, gold, berry, and dandelion. I can’t speak for how accurate most of the colors are, but I still have my purple Game Boy Color, and the grape color looks delightfully similar. It just has the Pocket’s more modern display.
I want more multiplayer games like Space Marine 2, not Concord
I’ve felt a bit of whiplash following Concord’s shutdown this week. Not only is Sony launching the excellent single-player Astro Bot the same day Concord is going offline, but we’ve just gotten another multiplayer game that’s already a hit. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is available now for those who bought the special editions of the game.
Space Marine 2 is a sci-fi shooter with a story campaign, co-op, and competitive modes. It’s quaint but feels like a throwback to the era of multiplayer games that birthed series like Gears of War and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Where Concord felt derivative of other modern live service games with its structure and presentation, Space Marine 2 feels refreshing by taking inspiration from another era of multiplayer. It’s one of the most fun multiplayer game I’ve played since Helldivers 2.
Finding the multiplayer hook
It’s not surprising that live service games like Concord have fallen into design clichés. Fortnite and Overwatch are successful in part because of how they’re structured, so if you’re chasing their success, it’s a safe move to copy what they’re doing. It still helps to have some original ideas to back that all up, and that’s one of the main areas where Concord faltered. From its menus to the content on offer, Concord felt like most other active live service games right now, aside from the fact that it eschewed having a battle pass.
Firaxis wants to make sure you actually finish a Civilization 7 game
Civilization games are easy to get lost in, so much so that I don’t think I’ve ever actually finished one of them. This is apparently a common problem because developer Firaxis Games wanted to address it with Civilization 7.
In an interview with Game Developer, creative director Ed Beach said that less than 50% of players completed a game of Civilization 6 due to its drawn-out pacing, something that many absolutely “hated.” Tasks took longer and longer to complete as you went, and as the game became more complicated, players became overloaded with things to do to expand their empires. So Firaxis made some changes.
