At last, Shrek has come to Minecraft, but only for the next few days
Visit the famously sociable ogre in his swamp via the Universal Studios Live event.
I've never been to Universal Studios in Hollywood, but I have been to the Universal Studios Theme Park in Florida. It was so long ago that the Jaws ride was still around, and my main memory from it is the overwhelming stench of petrol from all the very real flames that surrounded the ride.
Luckily, gasoline-filled nostrils won't be a problem in Minecraft's Universal Studios event, which is currently underway. This lets players join an online world "inspired" by Universal's Hollywood Studio Tour. According to an announcement published on the Minecraft website, this event "will take you through iconic sets inspired by some of your favourite movies and TV shows, but also behind-the-scenes to see how they're made and meet some of the characters."
It's a decidedly fanciful take on the studio tour, letting you visit various blocky iterations of famous movie sets like Amity Island, embarking on quests and playing minigames along the way like "the rooftop parkour challenge at New York Street." Once you're done with the tour, you can visit Shrek at home in his swamp, which he famously enjoys. Players can join the friendly and not remotely antisocial ogre, alongside his chattier companion Donkey, on an adventure themed after Shrek's fantasy world.
You can get a bunch of free Character Creator items every day until January 8. This includes items like "ogre-ears", so if you ever wanted to look like Shrek, make sure to log in. Personally, I don't need these, as I already look like Shrek.
The event runs until December 23rd ending at 01:00 AM GMT (or at 16:00 on December 22nd Pacific Time). To access it, you'll need the Bedrock version of Minecraft. Alongside this free event, Microsoft has a bunch of discounts on its Universal-themed DLCs, knocking 33% off its worlds inspired by How to Train Your Dragon, Jurassic World, and Illumination's Minions. That last one sounds truly nightmarish. Honesty, I'd take worlds filled with ravenous dinosaurs and dragons over those jabbering yellow freaks any day of the week.