The Super Duper Graphics Pack for Minecraft, an official mod from the game's developer Mojang that was planned to revitalize and reinvigorate Minecraft's pixellated aesthetic without changing its overall look and feel, has been cancelled. Originally announced in 2017, it was going to add new lighting effects, water, and shadows to the game. It was planned to debut later that year, but more than two years on from its announcement and the Pack has been officially canned.
Minecraft's look and feel are a major part of its appeal. It's vague enough that players can roughly tell what everything is, but leaves room for their imagination to fill in the gaps. It appeals to adults and children alike for that reason, and by being so low-res, it keeps the game's system requirements low and makes it infinitely accessible. The Super Duper Graphics Pack wasn't going to change that, but would have added a few enjoyable visual effects to improve the look of the game, much like many of the mods and texture packs have done to Minecraft over the last decade of its existence.
With such a delay between its announcement and release, however, many wondered about the fate of the graphics pack. Mojang has now made it clear what's happened. It's cancelled.
"Unfortunately, we aren’t happy with how the pack performed across devices," Mojang said in a statement. "For this reason, we’re stopping development on the pack, and looking into other ways for you to experience Minecraft with a new look."
It's not clear what new direction Mojang plans to take Minecraft's visuals, but it's clearly not done with working on them just yet.
What would you like Microsoft to do with Minecraft's graphics?
