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Windows Central
Windows Central
Technology
Brendan Lowry

Minecraft: Java Edition is moving to a new graphics API for its Vibrant Visuals update — here's what that means, and when it's coming to Mojang's hit

Official screenshot of Minecraft.

Minecraft developer Mojang Studios first brought the highly anticipated Vibrant Visuals update to the Bedrock Edition (Xbox, PC, PS5, Switch) of its sandbox survival game last summer, and now it's focused on releasing it for the PC-specific, modding-friendly Minecraft: Java Edition. As part of that process, the studio has announced it's switching Java over to a new graphics API.

Put simply, graphics APIs form a bridge between your system's GPU and your games, allowing the former to render the latter on your screen. Currently, Minecraft: Java Edition uses OpenGL, an aging program first developed in the 1990s. It's stopped receiving updates and soon won't work on macOS anymore, though, so Mojang is moving to Vulkan instead.

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