Minecraft had to remove fireflies after players realised they'd be poisonous to frogs

Minecraft
(Image credit: Mojang)

Minecraft devs removed fireflies from the game because they were poisonous to  the game's new frogs.

Last week, the official Minecraft YouTube channel published an "Ask Mojang" episode, where players could put their burning questions to the development team. One fan asked what happened to fireflies, which were meant to be part of the Wild Update for Minecraft, but were pulled from the update by the developer.

Producer Anna Lundgren reveals in the video below that when Mojang proposed adding fireflies as a food source for frogs, players actually reached out to tell them that fireflies are often poisonous to frogs. Not in Minecraft, of course, but real life, as fireflies contain a toxin that can actually be poisonous to frogs, lizards, and other amphibians when ingested.

As such, Mojang actually decided to remove fireflies from the game entirely in the Wild Update. Instead, Mojang has decided to add in "tiny slimes" in the Wild Update for frogs to consume as a food source, which should be better for the frogs and make the player base a whole lot happier.

However, this isn't to say fireflies won't eventually join Minecraft. Although Lundgren says they've been scrapped from the Wild Update, the producer notes that they're now part of the developer's "ideas library," and so could very well be reintroduced via an update for Minecraft in the future. There's no release date for the Wild Update in Minecraft, but at least we know why it won't feature fireflies when it launches.

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Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.