Minecraft Reveals The Sift, First New Dimension in 14 Years

Mojang announced The Sift at Minecraft Live, the first new dimension since 2011, debuting in Dungeons 2 before hitting Java and Bedrock in 2027.

The reveal showed a cotton-candy-pink realm with tufts of pink grass, a turquoise sky and bunny-like mobs that walk rather than hop. Yahoo Tech reports two named biomes from the Dungeons 2 version: Singer's Meadow, where flora grows out of red sculk, and Carapace, a desert dotted with blue walls and giant hollow fossils. GamesRadar notes it exists within Minecraft Dungeons 2's newly interconnected world, reached by stumbling into rifts.

Players won't wait until 2027 to explore the realm. The Sift debuts in Minecraft Dungeons 2, launching September 29, before arriving in Minecraft's Java and Bedrock editions next year. According to Xbox Wire, the Dungeons version features "shifting tides" affecting player characters, hazardous new block types, and both friendly and hostile mobs. Yahoo Tech cautions that Mojang is keeping quiet on how the dimension will differ in the main game and how players will access it there.

Reactions are sharply divided. Kotaku reports some fans love the 180° turn from Minecraft's recent dark, gloomy additions — one called a "death cult city portal leading to cute pink heaven" the coolest design choice Mojang could have made — while others find the pastel realm off-putting. Kotaku also notes Reddit veterans comparing the backlash to reactions to the 1.16 Nether forests years ago, and one viral joke declaring the Sift "the transgender dimension of Minecraft."

The same broadcast confirmed a next game drop bringing Ice Caves to the Overworld: a subterranean biome under colder surface biomes with icicles that detach if you place a torch beneath them, light-emitting ice crystals, calcite, and a new frozen zombie variant. Nintendo Life reports the ice caves will come to testing soon. Mojang also reiterated that Minecraft hits Nintendo Switch 2 on October 27, 2026.

Minecraft remains a juggernaut: GamesRadar cites Xbox CEO Asha Sharma saying the game has sold over 425 million copies and draws more than 300,000 first-time players a day after 17-plus years. Kotaku points out that Minecraft's income has been propping up Xbox operations amid studio closures, so a headline-grabbing first in 14 years is no accident. A Minecraft World theme park with the first Minecraft rollercoaster opens at Chessington in 2027, per VGC.