Minecraft Dungeons II launches on September 29, 2026, on Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, and it is included with Game Pass from day one. Xbox confirmed the timing in an Xbox Wire hands-on feature published September 28, which also lays out the sequel’s biggest change: the first game’s chapter-by-chapter mission map is gone, replaced by one interconnected world.
What Xbox Revealed
According to Xbox Wire, regions such as the Howling Woods, the Frozen Highlands and the Rainy Plains now connect “with no loading screens to break up the journey.” The game runs on Unreal Engine 5, and heroes can finally jump. The open map comes with systems built for coming back to it:
- Boss Totems restart a boss fight you have already won, so you can farm its loot. Xbox’s example is a Witch boss in the northern Howling Woods.
- Rifts and Dungeons are side encounters packed with enemies and loot chests. Rewards include Enchantment Books, which fuse abilities onto gear, and Echo Shards, which upgrade Merchants, Blacksmiths and equipment.
- Repeatable events send you back to areas like the Deep Dark for better loot.
- Fast travel runs through Minecart Stations and Teleport Statues, and a Guidance Trail (click the left stick) points toward your active quest.
- Death sends you to the hub town of Brave Haven, where a Teleport Statue returns you to the nearest Respawn Shrine you have passed.
Xbox Wire’s writer says that after roughly a dozen hours they had “only scratched the surface” of both the Overworld and the Sift, the new dimension this game introduces.
What This Means for Players
On Xbox and PC, Game Pass members have nothing to buy. Otherwise the standard edition is $29.99 in the US and the Deluxe Edition is $49.99, adding four hero skins, the Soul cape, the Blub pet and the first two DLC packs when they release. Xbox Play Anywhere covers both console and PC. Co-op supports up to four players online or on the couch, and online console play needs each platform’s subscription. The pre-order bonus (two hero skins, the Twisted cape and the Twisted chicken pet) ends at 12 p.m. PDT on September 28, per Mojang’s offer terms.
It also pays to reinstall the original: playing both Dungeons games on the same Microsoft account earns the Hero Cape in Dungeons II and in Minecraft Java and Bedrock, and Game Pass play counts.
The Sift is the bigger long-term hook. Mojang confirmed at the Minecraft LIVE we previewed last week that the dimension comes to Minecraft itself in 2027, so Dungeons II is the first look at its mobs and biomes. For the main game right now, see what the Minecraft 26.4 snapshots add or browse our Minecraft hub. ARPG players weighing it against a heavier loot grind can compare Diablo 4 Season 15.
Source: Xbox Wire, “How Minecraft Dungeons II’s Interconnected World Makes Every Journey an Adventure,” September 28, 2026; Mojang, Minecraft Dungeons II page on minecraft.net.