Minecraft’s frequent game drops are great for players, but a headache for modders

In late 2024, Mojang announced a major change in Minecraft's update development cycle. The company revealed that it will now release smaller but more frequent updates, called game drops. Previously, the developers dropped one or a maximum of two major updates in a year, with several smaller hotfixes. From 2025, Mojang started releasing a total of four game drops with new features, and several smaller hotfix updates as usual.

Though this could have been a great step for Mojang and players, it puts great pressure and raises problems for the modding community. Here's why.

The frequency of Minecraft game drops might be an issue for modders

Mods need to be updated with every game update

Minecraft's game drops are a lot better than regular, larger updates (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Mojang Studios)

Whenever Mojang updates Minecraft to a new game version, a lot is being worked on in the background. The developers not only add new features and fix its bugs, but also check the entire game for bugs that could arise elsewhere by simply adding new features. For example, a new mob's feature can cause a small butterfly effect and cause the game to break in an unexpected manner.

Because of this, every new version changes the core game code in several ways. This is why, with every update, most modders need to update their mods as well. Simpler mods that do not add major new features might not get affected much, but they can still misbehave and not run properly. Some mods can completely break and not let the game start.

Previously, modders usually updated their mods once or twice a year with every major Minecraft update. Now, however, they have to do so five or even six times a year, specifically because of game drops releasing more frequently. Any mod that gets updated quickly becomes irrelevant or corrupt a few months later if it runs on Minecraft's new game drop.

Also Read: How to get Minecraft Fabric 1.21.10

Many popular mods are now behind schedule

Many mods like OptiFine are running behind schedule because of frequent game drops (Image via OptiFine)

Since Mojang shifted to game drop releases, many famous mods have now running behind schedule and losing their popularity because of it. One of the prime examples of this is OptiFine. A few years ago, OptiFine was considered one of the best optimization mods for Minecraft.

Though OptiFine's gradual downfall is not only because of Minecraft's development cycle change, it plays a major role as well. If we head to the mod's website, the last stable version of the mod is for 1.21.4. Every mod version for newer Minecraft versions is currently in the preview phase.

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Edited by Akshat Kabra