‘Minecraft’ Holiday DLC Brings Santa’s Workshop To Windows 10

As the height of this year’s holiday season approaches, Mojang is giving Minecraft fans the chance to celebrate inside the game. Allowing users to dress in a variety of different Christmas-themed costumes, the developer announced the release of a Holiday Skin Pack DLC that includes 15 unique avatar looks for Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta as well as the mobile Pocket Edition of Minecraft.

To help improve the look of Minecraft’s in-game character models themselves, this week’s new festive add-on launched alongside a new title update that improved the overall quality of player avatars. To make the best of these changes, all of the new holiday Minecraft skins were designed with the new models in mind to take full advantage of the game’s latest visual features.

“The pack includes festive classics like Santa, his wife, and an elf, but we’ve also made a bundle of wintery looks that are… like… totes wearable throughout the rest of winter. Dedicated skin enthusiasts will also notice that this is the first pack for Windows 10 Edition Beta and Pocket to include extra geometry. That basically means we’ve tweaked the character models slightly to make them look extra cool.”

In addition to improved character models, the new patch for the Windows 10 edition of Minecraft also addressed several game bugs and other known issues. The studio didn’t release fully details on exactly what was fixed, but Mojang’s Owen Hill reassured users that the patch should offer a more stable gameplay experience and fans should “Just play in the knowledge that the game is slightly better than last time you loaded it up.”

Providing gamers with more details on what the new Holiday Skins Pack adds to the Windows 10 and mobile editions of Minecraft, Microsoft official Xbox Wire news blog gave a brief rundown of all 15 of the new holiday Minecraft avatars. The DLC skins offer a variety of looks that includes traditional Christmas icons such as Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus along with their famous red-nosed reindeer. Other skins allow gamers to celebrate the season by playing Minecraft as gingerbread men or toy figures. For those simply seeking winter-themed avatars that don’t have any specific ties to the holidays, the festive skins pack also features a few new avatars that merely put the Minecraft character models inside parka and other winter coats.

“The holiday spirit is alive and well at Mojang and Microsoft, and we’re excited to share the news of our new Holiday Skins Pack that has launched today for Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta and Minecraft: Pocket Edition! The Holiday Skins Pack includes 15 festive skins for your characters to enjoy. Spread the spirit of the season by building your very own Santa’s Workshop in a snowy biome of your choice!”

All 15 skins can now be purchased for the Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta and Minecraft: Pocket Edition for $1.99. Those who don’t wish to buy the DLC can still try out some of the new looks since two of the holiday skins have been made available to all users for free. Members from Mojang and Microsoft also plan to stream gameplay footage featuring the new festive content this Friday to give players the chance to all of the skins in action.

While Mojang works to improve the new Windows 10 edition of Minecraft, the developer also continues to make progress on the new major update for the original version of the popular block-building title. As the Inquisitr reported earlier this year, the studio is bringing flying capes and a complete combat overhaul to the game.

Do you plan on picking up the new holiday add-on for Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition or do you think Mojang is asking too much for 15 avatar skins?

[Image via Mojang]