New Default Minecraft Skins Bring Back Steve’s Beard

December 7, 2022

Mojang has changed the default Minecraft skins to Steve and Alex. Minecraft Steve's beard has returned after years of being clean-shaven. The blue-shirted Minecraft Steve was the original model. However, many players mistakenly thought it was a beaming smile. It was later removed to make the default character more gender-neutral.

Minecraft Alex was introduced in 2014 as a default skin. Alex has a green top with longer red hair, and a ponytail. This makes it a more feminine version of Steve's. Helen Chiang, the Microsoft studio head for Minecraft, stated in a 2018 interview that the company wanted to challenge gender stereotypes and present Alex and Steve with identical physical characteristics and abilities.

With the two options now available, it was decided to bring back Steve's famous goatee. The new skins were highlighted in a Minecraft subreddit post. They also improve Alex's shading to give the second character model a more natural, three-dimensional look. The reaction has been largely positive, with many fans excited to see Steve's original beard back.

Many commenters said that Steve now matches the official art, including the appearance of the character in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. "I can understand why they removed it," said the Reddit comment with the most votes. "But it was clearly a major part of Steve's design, which it seems Mojang agrees with." It is great to see it back after all these years.

Jasper Boerstra, Minecraft's lead artist, commented on the change via Twitter. He said, "I'm glad you like the return to the beard!" Boerstra also noted that classic banding techniques and 'pillow shading" are used in the new skins, but asked players to weigh in on whether or not this decision was a good one. If you prefer the classic look, there are also classic options.

If you don't like the default look of Alex and Steve, don't worry - we have the best Minecraft skins. We also have a guide to all the Minecraft console commands and our top picks for Minecraft mods. Did you know that Minecraft Redstone contains radioactive uranium. It makes one think twice about how you put together your home. But, take a look at these cool Minecraft houses for some great build ideas.