Minecraft's Super Duper Graphics Pack canceled for being 'too technically demanding'

Minecraft Super Duper Graphics Pack — (Image credit: Mojang)

The planned graphical update for Minecraft, the Super Duper Graphics Pack, has been canceled, says an announcement from Mojang. Originally announced during E3 2017, the Super Duper pack has been in the works for a while but it seems Mojang wasn't happy with how it performed across different devices.

Citing the wide range of platforms Minecraft is available on, Mojang says "Super Duper was an ambitious initiative that brought a new look to Minecraft but, unfortunately, the pack proved too technically demanding to implement as planned." Although PC players have played Minecraft with high-res texture packs and custom shaders created by modders for years, these improvements understandably lead to a dip in performance that likely couldn't be mitigated on less powerful hardware.

Despite canceling work on the Super Duper Graphics Pack, Mojang says it is still looking into other ways for players to experience Minecraft with a new look.

Though there's now no official new shader pack on the horizon for Minecraft, you can check out our list of best Minecraft shaders on PC.

Lauren has been writing for PC Gamer since she went hunting for the cryptid Dark Souls fashion police in 2017. She joined the PCG staff in 2021, now serving as self-appointed chief cozy games and farmlife sim enjoyer. Her career originally began in game development and she remains fascinated by how games tick in the modding and speedrunning scenes. She likes long fantasy books, longer RPGs, can't stop playing co-op survival crafting games, and has spent a number of hours she refuses to count building houses in The Sims games for over 20 years.