Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition beta is coming to the Windows Store on July 29

06.07.2015
Remember when creator Markus "Notch" Persson famously said he'd rather not have Minecraft on the PC at all than have it in the Windows Store, since he (like many other game developers) considered the Windows Store to be Microsoft's attempt to lock down the open PC platform

Well, now that Microsoft bought Mojang from Notch for a whopping $2.5 billion, Minecraft is coming to the Windows Store.

Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta is basically a port of the mobile Minecraft: Pocket Edition and will launch alongside Windows 10 itself on July 29, Mojang announced today. If you're one of the 20 million folks who purchased Minecraft for the PC, you'll get the Windows 10 edition for free; if you're not, you'll be able to pick it up for $10 during the undetermined length of the beta.

The game will launch of Creative and Survival modes, of course, as well as seven-person multiplayer over a local network or with your Xbox Live friends who also own the game. An update "due to arrive soon after launch" will let you play Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta with any Pocket Edition owner. That update, and all future Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta updates, will be free. You know, because it's Minecraft.

As far as Microsoft-specific ports go, a swanky augmented reality version of Minecraft for HoloLens is also in the works. In fact, Microsoft considers Minecraft to be a killer app for its futuristic new hardware.

(www.pcworld.com)

Brad Chacos