There was plenty going on in Minecraft over the last week - in and around the game.

Let’s go over all the important events in this weekly wrap up.

Minecraft Java 1.16.2

Minecraft got its newest update this week, and while it’s nothing compared to the Nether Update, it still includes some important additions to the game.

What’s New: How to Beat the Ender Dragon

Here are the finer points of what’s new in this patch:

• 150+ bugs were addressed in this patch, which you can read over here.
• There are now visual effects for villagers joining a village and acquiring a new job
• Piglin Brutes are now added to the game
  • Piglin Brutes can’t be placated by gold, and will always attack on sight
  • Piglin Brutes can be found in bastions and protect treasures
• Piglins bartering loot has been adjusted
• Chains can now be placed in different orientations
• Bastion Remnant chests now spawn more often on gilded blackstone, and have new loot patterns
• World generation has picked up new complexities with folder patterns

You can read over the full patch notes for Minecraft Java 1.16.2 here.

Overwolf Curseforge Purchase

Video game development platform Overwolf has officially purchased the mod repository CurseForge. 

CurseForge is one of the more popular ways players manage and reach new Minecraft mods. With a new change in ownership from Twitch to Overwolf, we could see some new tweaks to the platform.

Overwolf already supports video game extensions via software for developers (as well as structural support, and at times even financial support), so we expect this experience to benefit their management of the CurseForge platform.

But we’ll soon see the kinds of changes CurseForge will see in the near future, especially relating to Minecraft.

Fortnite kicked from Play and App stores

While this isn’t directly related to Minecraft, it could mean big things for the future of Minecraft on mobile platforms. And if things aren’t managed correctly, it could even represent what could come in the future for Minecraft.

Fortnite faced a ban from Google Play and Apple App stores this week - and Epic Games is now suing both in response. 

The reasoning behind the ban stems from conflicts between Epic Games and each platform over cuts of profit on in-game sales - after Epic Games added a new payment feature for in-game purchases that circumvents the marketplaces.

What’s New: The Best Biomes in Minecraft

With Fortnite being such a huge gaming presence and incredibly large moneymaker, Epic Games making an effort to separate itself from the platforms and their fees might end up being a massively profitable move in the long run. 

All the same, it could hurt the game’s massive player base - especially with such a young average age for users who might not be able to find the game so easily without these methods.

With all of Fortnite’s struggles, this could be a huge opportunity for Minecraft on mobile devices.

This could mean a huge player migration to Minecraft on mobile, and inject new life into the game.

BisectHosting Minecraft Control Panel Updates

• Panel wide user-configurable timezone, which can be set from the 'Profile' page. This will affect the time shown in:
  Console
  Chat
  File Manager
  Scheduled tasks
  Manual Backups
• Automatic timezone detection for users who didn’t set a timezone
• Automatic daily backups show the time and date of the backup
• Budget Minecraft server customers can do a trial of the full JAR Menu
  Files in the File Manager are now in alphabetical order regardless of capital letters