By: Max Cannon
Since Mojang, the developer of Minecraft, was purchased by Microsoft a few years back, they've been slowly planning and releasing updates to make Minecraft a more unified platform. Things really kicked off during E3 last year when Microsoft announced their plans to make Minecraft a cross-platform experience, not including Minecraft on PlayStation because Sony doesn't seem to want to participate, and that has evolved into the Bedrock Update for the game.
A Shared World
Different versions of Minecraft often have different titles based on their platform like Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition, Xbox One Edition, etc. These separate titles are being dropped in lieu of simply calling the game Minecraft because of the planned cross-platform support to continue to the idea of Minecraft being a single platform -- again, the PlayStation versions of the game aren't a part of this update. This means that you'll be able to play the iOS, Android, PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, or VR versions of Minecraft together regardless of the platform you choose to play on when the game launches on June 21st.
Minecraft – E3 2017 – 4K Trailer
If you're an achievement hunter over on Xbox then you'll be happy to know that Xbox achievements for Minecraft are also unified across the different devices. By logging in with your Xbox Live Gamertag, a player on the Nintendo Switch will log in to Xbox's servers (what a time to be alive.) This update would also let players on the Nintendo Switch check out the Minecraft Marketplace. This is a community-driven store that lets players download maps, skins, and texture packs made by various creators to augment their Minecraft experience. For more info, check out Microsoft's post about the update which launches for free on June 21st.
Fortnite is another game pushing heavily for cross-platform play.Courtesy of Epic Games
A Step in the Right Direction
Cross-platform play has been a dream of console gamers for years but very little progress has been made in making this a reality. The last generation had Sony pursing cross-platform gaming and Xbox ignoring it and this generation has reversed both of their roles. The biggest steps to achieving the goal have been made between both Fortnite and Minecraft but PlayStation isn't as keen on bridging the gap, which makes sense from a business perspective but is still disappointing for us players. In the case of Fortnite, PlayStation can play with mobile or PC players and they won't play with Xbox, which burns the bridge between consoles.
Rocket League is another title that's made a push for a shared online.Courtesy of Psyonix
Though I doubt we'll hear anything positive, it's possible that E3 could give us some good news about PlayStation's support of cross-play because what better time to make gamer's happy? I'd say that a unified online is going to happen one day, it's not a matter of "if?" but more a matter of "when?' Until that time, Minecraft is going to have to be happy connecting every platform other than Sony's console when it launches on June 21st for Nintendo Switch.
Nintendo isn't new to working alongside Mojang for Minecraft.Courtesy of Nintendo
Have Your Say!
Are you already playing Minecraft or are you going to jump back in for the new update? Which games would you hope to see go cross-platform? Share your thoughts below!
