Minecraft players hope 1.21 update is start of massive End expansion

The Minecraft Live 2023 event aired on Oct. 15, 2023, and shared a first look at the next major update, which is 1.21.

This update won’t arrive until mid-2024, but fans are already eagerly theorizing at what else might be included in it beyond the content that was showcased for 1.21 during the live event. And thanks to the mysterious Breeze, players have built up a strong theory for an overhaul or expansion to the End.

The Breeze looks like an air-based version of the Blaze, which is a fiery mob found in Nether Fortresses you must battle to reach the End. Blazes drop Blaze rods, which can then be crafted into Eyes of Ender to unlock the End portal, and players are hoping the Breeze might drop Breeze rods for this portal too.

Nothing Mojang has said indicates a possible End expansion, but the Breeze looks suspiciously similar to the Blaze, which has players convinced they are a part of something much bigger. The theory players have crafted involved four Blaze-like mobs all being key components to reaching the End.

This theory counts on two more mobs arriving in the future—a Brine aligned with water and a Bole aligned with earth. With all four added, players would have to gather rods from each mob to make three Eyes of Ender aligned with each element before the End portal could then be unlocked.

This would make reaching the End a lot tougher, but it could also potentially push players to explore more areas and present some fun new challenges.

One player agreed this theory was a great one since it would give players more motivation to explore the new Trial Chambers. This player then expanded upon the idea by saying Mojang could strategically place the other two mobs to push players to explore other areas, too.

“Maybe they could put the water blazes in the sea temple, and maybe the earth blazes have something to do with archaeology?” the player said. “Seems like a really cool concept, but I doubt Mojang would actually do it.”

Some players speculated the remaining two Blaze-like mobs could instead be added to new dimensions like the Blaze in the Nether, but the consensus among most players is it makes more sense to place them in already existing areas to push players to explore them.

One player said Minecraft doesn’t “need new dimensions” for these mobs since Mojang “could add the water brines to the Monuments and Earth ones to the Ancient Cities.”

“Then it forces players to go find the Elder Guardian and Warden before the End rather than then usually just being forgotten,” this player reasoned.

Some of the coolest areas in Minecraft are those that often go unexplored, which include the ancient cities home to Wardens and the ocean monuments home to elder guardians. Placing these theorized new mobs in areas like these would be a mighty push toward getting players to explore them much more frequently.

The Minecraft community hasn’t been particularly happy with the state of the sandbox game or Mojang recently with the mob vote petition and general controversy surrounding it, but an expansion as big as this one would easily get most players back on their side.

Minecraft’s 1.21 update won’t launch until mid-2024, though, so it’s going to be quite some time before we find out what the Breeze drops and if it’s part of something bigger or if it’s just another hostile mob.