Minecraft Will Help Players Celebrate The Lunar New Year Digitally

From February 9-15, Minecraft players will have access to special curated content and free items to help celebrate the Year of the Ox, even though it can't be in-person.

Traditionally, Lunar New Year celebrations involve in-person gatherings, whether those celebrations involve trips to flower markets, festive parades, dances, or big feasts with family and friends. As noted in Minecraft's blog post about the event: "All over the world, people come together to clear out the previous year by cleaning their homes, getting rid of clutter, and replacing or repairing broken items."

But since that isn't possible for many this year, Minecraft has added special curated Lunar New Year content and free skins so players can throw their own digital festivities if gathering in-person isn't safe. "Since that type of gathering still isn’t possible we hope that you can find other ways to mark the occasion. If you want to welcome the Year of the Ox in Minecraft, you can find free skins in the Marketplace and Character Creator that will help make your celebration a little more festive!"

The Lunar New Year of the Ox skin pack features multiple "cultural elements," including Hanfu (a type of traditional Chinese clothing), Tang suit (a type of traditional Chinese jacket), dragon lion dance characters, and ox in different festive costumes. You can snag it for free in the Minecraft marketplace.

The last time the Year of the Ox rolled around was in 2009, the same year Minecraft originally debuted. Back then there were no cows in the game (they weren't introduced until 2010), but things have come a long way since then. Players can create all kinds buildings and decorations in the game's servers now, so whatever kind of digital celebration you're looking to hold Minecraft should be able to accommodate it.