Minecraft: The Better Together Update is Here!

 

The Better Together Update Is… LIVE!

What’s
happening? Starting today, players using console, mobile, VR and Windows 10
versions of Minecraft are all one big, happy Bedrock Engine family with the
release of the Better Together Update. Say goodbye to “Minecraft: Xbox One
Edition” or “Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition” and hello to a universal
“Minecraft”. Here’s a fancy new trailer to
celebrate!

This is the BIGGEST update Minecraft has ever had, as we unite players on
tens of millions of devices and implement 34 new features into the game.
Minecraft is the first game in history to have cross-device play between all these
different platforms, and we’ve been just *bursting* with excitement to share
the news for our community to check it out! 

How
did you get here? Since starting the Better Together Update beta earlier
this summer, we’ve had millions of beta testers on Android, Xbox One and
Windows 10 helping us find bugs and give feedback, allowing us to fix 3,000 bugs so far – that’s a lot of
bugs! And testers have been super happy with what they’ve seen, rating the
update a 4.1 out of 5, which is pretty darn good considering that up until now,
we’ve still just been in beta.

What will I see that’s new & different? SO MANY THINGS! Of course, the update introduces
cross-platform play, essentially creating a version of Minecraft that’s
consistent no matter what device you’re playing on. And as if that wasn’t
enough…

•       
We have three community server partners that
will be accessible from within the game, bringing dozens of new minigames for
people to play with millions of other players.  

•       
The Better Together Update also lets our players
on consoles for the first-time access tons of playermade content on
Marketplace. And anything unlocked from the Minecraft Store on one device will
be available on all the other devices linked to that person’s Xbox LIVE
account.  

o   Totally
new items will also be hitting the Marketplace tomorrow, complete with
community made adventure maps, worlds, texture and skin packs. 

o   Select
existing packs from the old console version will get shiny, free updates and 22
packs will be ported over from console that will be available to Bedrock
players. 

•       
We’re also excited to make it easier for people
on mobile or Windows 10 devices to invite others to play with them in their
realm with Invite
Links. 

o   Players
on mobile and Windows 10 will be able to generate custom URLs unique to their
Realm that they can use to invite their friends – and invitees can jump into
the world right away, even if the owner isn’t online. Magic!

o  
We’re also working on making this feature
available for Xbox in a future update.

Who
can download the Better Together Update? Players on Bedrock Engine
platforms (Xbox One, mobile devices and Windows 10 PCs) are welcome to dive in
right away and download all the goodness that’s included in Better Together for
~*~free~*~. 

How
do I download the update? If you own the game digitally, you can download
the update right NOW! Xbox One players who own the game via disc will need to
have played five hours in the past 12 months, or have purchased content by Jan.
30, 2018 to download the update. This helps us separate your account from fake
ones.

What’s Next?

•       
Next, we’ll be focusing on continuing our work
with Nintendo to get Minecraft and the Better Together Update onto Nintendo
Switch. There’s a lot of work that goes into making sure everything is ready to
bring this platform on board, and we’re hoping to be ready to release Minecraft
on Switch sometime this winter. 

For the full announcement and more
information, head over to Minecraft.net!

In Case You Missed It

•       
We first announced the Better Together
Update at E3 in June, and started rolling out the Beta back
in July. In the months that followed, we collected feedback, squashed THOUSANDS
of bugs and made tweaks to the game. It’s even BETTER TOGETHER thanks to the
help of our super stellar community. <3 

•       
We pulled together a super handy FAQ for the
Better Together Update that we continue to update for you guys, so if you’re
feeling confused, Minecraft.net should be your first stop!

•       
Minecraft Marketplace was announced as
part of the Discovery Update in April and launched in
June. Since then, we’ve released amazing community-created adventures, worlds,
texture packs and more.