Minecraft is now on Xbox Game Pass For PC in both Java and Bedrock forms
Next step, giving all Minecraft PC owners both editions
Yeah yeah Xbox Game Pass For PC offers a load of great games at a suspiciously low price, but what about Microsoft's actually big games? Finally, the big'un has arrived: Minecraft. Both the original Java and cross-platform Bedrock versions of Minecraft arrived on Microsoft's subscription service today, packaged into a unified launcher. This comes ahead of plans to give all PC Minecrafters access to both versions next year.
Mojang's build 'em up has been included with the console version of Game Pass since 2019 but was curiously absent from PC subs. I am very glad to see both the Java and Bedrock editions covered.
Java is the original version, the version with all the big mods, the one your PC pals may be more likely to own. But Bedrock is the cross-platform version, the one which lets you play with folks on consoles and phones, and which has official RTX support if you want that weird shiny raytracing. It has royally sucked that Microsoft sold the two versions separately. That'll be over soon-ish, at least.
The PC Game Pass release brings a new unified Minecraft launcher covering Java and Bedrock. And at some point in 2022, PC players who own either version will get access to the other too, through what Mojang call the Minecraft PC Bundle. That's so, so, so overdue. I've missed out on a few virtual get-togethers with pals during the pandemic because we have different versions of Minecraft and I'll be damned if I buy it twice.
If this nudges you to finally try Minecraft, hey, Guidesman Ollie can tell you all about best Minecraft seeds for interesting starting points. Yeah yeah there's a lot to say for going in blind with whatever but damn, some of those look gorgeous places to start out. A beautiful landscape might somewhat counterbalance my complete inability to build bases which don't look like a herd of Creepers stampeded through.