If you can’t decide if you’d rather spend the new year at home playing Minecraft than dealing with crowds at Universal Studios Hollywood this holiday season, don’t miss your chance to enjoy the best of both worlds with the Universal New Year’s Celebration virtual event coming to Minecraft.
Universal New Year’s Celebration Virtual Event
The virtual event, coming to all platforms on which users can currently enjoy Minecraft, will run for three weeks from December 18 until January 8. In that time, players will be able to visit Universal Studios Hollywood and ride the World-Famous Studio Tour. Players will be able to immerse themselves into some of their favorite Universal franchises as well through a series of new downloadable content.
The event will take players to Universal Studios Hollywood’s Studio Tour, the Isle of Berk, Gru’s Lab featuring the Minions, Jurassic World with plenty of dinosaurs, and other Universal Pictures franchises-inspired locations. On X, the official Minecraft account shared a quick sneak peek through the gates of the Universal Studios globe in block form:
In the short video, we watch this scene with real-life Minecraft plushes before the camera swoops through the gate for Universal Studios Hollywood…
…and into the blocky Minecraft world.
One more swoop through the gates, and we see the iconic Universal Studios globe spinning on its now decidedly square base.
In addition to spending a little time in the virtual version of Universal Studios Hollywood, each day of the event, Minecraft players can discover new free Character Creator items related to the adventures available to players in the newly-released Universal Studios and Universal franchise locations.
The Universal Studios Event
On December 19, a four-day live, in-game Universal Studios Event begins in Minecraft: Bedrock Edition.
Minecraft is promising that this is your chance to sneak behind the scenes on the world-famous Studio Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood. Players will be able to ride the blocky Studio Tour until 4 p.m. PST in Minecraft: Bedrock Edition.
New Downloadable Content at 33% Off
Each Monday during the event, different downloadable content (DLC) based on Universal Pictures franchises will be released and launch at 33 percent off. After one week, the next DLC will become available at the same discount. Here are the DLC releases, according to the press release:
December 18-24: Kick things off with Hiccup and Toothless and go dragon racing in the How to Train Your Dragon DLC, inspired by the DreamWorks Animation franchise.
December 25-31: Rise to your true calling: becoming a supervillain in the Minions DLC, inspired by the characters from Illumination’s franchise!
January 1-8: Switch to running (hopefully not away from) your own dinosaur park in the Jurassic World DLC, inspired by the films from Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment.
Free Character Creator Items and 75% Off Select Items at Minecraft Marketplace
Each day of the Universal New Year’s Celebration, players can pick up a unique Character Creator item in the Dressing Room for free. Make sure your game is updated, because this will only be available for players who have the latest version of Minecraft: Bedrock Edition.
So far, items that have been teased include Minions goggles, a Viking helmet, and a Jurassic Park staff uniform. These three items, plus 20 more, will be released individually each day of the Universal New Year’s Celebration event.
If the Universal New Year’s Celebration isn’t enough to keep you busy, the event will have more than 150+ mini-games, maps, texture packs, and skin packs up to 75 percent off at Minecraft Marketplace.
Will you be checking out the blocky version of Universal Studios Hollywood during the Universal New Year’s Celebration? Let us know in the comments.
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