Microsoft discontinues development of Super Duper Graphics Pack for Minecraft

Minecraft will not get a Super Duper Graphics Pack, the major graphics update that Microsoft announced for the game during the E3 game show in 2017. Microsoft calls the update technically too demanding.

Microsoft reports that it is “not happy” with the performance of the Minecraft Super Duper Graphics Pack when running on different systems. The developer has therefore stopped developing it. The company is now looking at other ways to give Minecraft a different look. Microsoft won’t give any further details on this, but the company will soon provide more information about optimizing the architecture behind Minecraft on different platforms.

Microsoft announced the Super Duper Graphics Pack in 2017. The graphics update would only appear for the Xbox One, high-end PCs with Windows 10 and the Xbox One X, or so it was intended. The free update was supposed to add 4K HDR support and advanced graphical effects to Minecraft, such as dynamic shadows, leaf and grass movements, new textures, directional lighting, and so on.