The super popular online sandbox style game, 'Minecraft', is due to release an official v. 1.8 update. Mojang, developer of the game, has been hard at work releasing updates to the preview/beta version regularly. This means that an official launch of version 1.8 patch will most likely hit the actual game soon.

Fans can expect some new features to be added to the game. Also, this update will apparently fix many of the bugs and glitches that are found in the current version.

Biomes (including swamps) are amongst the new featuring set for the 1.8 update. The new areas will contain vines and grass, which brings diversity and flexibility to the worlds that the users can create to make their experience richer. New attack modes are also set to make an appearance in the patch. Bow charging will allow users to do more damage and produce critical hits. Sprinting will decrease travel time, and knock mobs back when charged.

A new and improved main menu will be added, improved hunger depletion and refilling methods, and more underwater action will be seen when the game officially updates.

Players will also become excited to hear that floating islands (which was removed in a recent change), will be making their comeback into the game. Also, a set of preset worlds will also be available when the game launches the new version.

As always, pre-release or preview versions that are published will be regularly updated based on user submitted bug reports and suggestions that help improve the overall experience of the game before an official release.

Players who wish to play the preview version have to create a new profile with the "Enable experimental development snapshots" option checked.

Users are, of course, warned in advance that these releases won't be stable and are advised to back up their data before signing up for this. And lastly, if the users so desire, they can switch back to the normal, stable-only mode at any time within the game itself.