The Universal New Year's Celebration sets off

Welcome aboard the Universal New Year’s Celebration*! Fasten your seatbelts and get ready for three weeks filled with wild blockbuster adventures. This blocky tram will not only take you to Universal Studios Hollywood’s world-famous Studio Tour, but also stop at the Isle of Berk with ferocious dragons, Gru’s Lab featuring his mischievous Minions, Jurassic World with dinosaurs on the loose, and many more iconic locations inspired by Universal Pictures franchises.

We set off on December 18 and ride until January 8. Along the way you can snatch up free Character Creator items*, a four-day live in-game event, and up to 75% off Minecraft Marketplace content. In other words: this journey will be off the rails! Wait. Or don’t! Jump on!

Three weeks. Three DLCs. 33% off!

Three weeks might feel like plenty of time, but we have a lot of blocky ground to cover! Each Monday a different DLC based on a franchise from Universal Pictures will be 33% off for exactly one week before the next one takes over.

Let’s look at our itinerary:

December 18-24: Kick things off with Hiccup and Toothless and go dragon racing in the How to Train Your Dragon DLC, inspired by the DreamWorks Animation franchise.

December 25-31: Rise to your true calling: becoming a supervillain in the Minions DLC, inspired by the characters from Illumination’s franchise!

January 1-8: Switch to running (hopefully not away from) your own dinosaur park in the Jurassic World DLC, inspired by the films from Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment.

The Universal Studios Event: Starting December 19

Hold up! Between all that dragon racing, prehistoric adventures and supervillain training, we make a sharp turn into the four-day live, in-game Universal Studios Event starting December 19 in Minecraft: Bedrock Edition!

This is your ticket to sneak behind the scenes of some of your favorite movies and TV shows on the world-famous Studio Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood, without getting into trouble. Well, not too much trouble at least! With Shrek and Donkey on the loose from DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek, I take no responsibility for the kind of shenanigans they get you into. So, if you get swept up in any bank heists, trapped in shark-infested waters, or tangled up in the Wild West, don’t look at me! Mostly because I will be stuck there with you.

Hop on the blocky Studio Tour, inspired by Universal Studios Hollywood’s signature attraction, together with thousands of other players between 10am PST December 19 until 4 pm PST December 22 in Minecraft: Bedrock Edition.

Free Character Creator Items & 75% off

I know what you’re thinking. Packing for three weeks – what a nightmare! Not at the Universal New Year’s Celebration. Every day you can claim a new Character Creator item in the Dressing Room for free*! And not only that – these will make sure you match your adventure. We couldn’t just send you out to manage Jurassic World without the staff uniform now, could we? Or ride Toothless without a Viking helmet! I, for one, can’t wait to show off my Minions goggles to the rest of the mischievous gang. Head to Minecraft Marketplace to claim these and 20(!) other free Character Creator items.

The Universal New Year’s Celebration ends on January 8, but the adventures don’t have to stop there. There are a wide selection of maps, mini-games, skin packs, and texture packs on sale for up to 75% off at Minecraft Marketplace, so pick some up before January 8 to keep the fun running far into 2024.

This is when I should tell you to “sit back, relax, and enjoy the view” but we both know this will be far too fun for that. See you on December 18!

*Requires the latest version of Minecraft: Bedrock Edition (sold separately). Limit: 1 of each free Character Creator item per person.