At E3 in early June, Microsoft announced that it would enable cross-platform game play in Minecraft. Today, that ability is available in beta form for gamers on Windows 10 and Android.

And Xbox One support is coming soon, too, Microsoft says.

“We’ll be soon releasing the Better Together update, the first step in our plan to unify versions of Minecraft for console, mobile, and Windows 10,” Microsoft’s Marsh Davies explains. “That means players on those platforms will be able to join each other in-game, create, cooperate or compete together on massive servers, and access whatever swish skins and Marketplace adventure maps they own on any of their compatible devices.”

The Better Together update for Minecraft will require gamers on Windows 10 and the Nintendo Switch to upgrade to a new version of the game (which will be free for existing users). But in order to make sure this transition is going to work well, Microsoft is now offering a beta version of this new Minecraft version for Windows 10, plus a beta version of the existing Minecraft app for Android. And an Xbox One update is coming soon too.

“As with all betas, the purpose is to help us stress-test what we’ve built so far and uncover any bugs so we can squish them before the official launch,” Davies writes. “The pay-off is that you get an early glimpse of the cool stuff we have lined up, like fireworks, parrots, armor stands, the recipe book, new game rules and – stealing the show entirely – the amazing, the one and only, the ultimate COARSE DIRT.”

This first release of the Minecraft Better Together beta is not feature complete: the Servers aren’t yet in Beta, for starters, but on the flipside the Marketplace is available.

To test this new release on Windows 10, install the Xbox Insider Hub app from the Windows Store. Then, using that app, navigate to Insider content > Minecraft Beta and choose “Join.”

On Android, click here and select “Become a Tester.” Note that you must have purchased Minecraft: Pocket Edition from the Google Play Store.

Oh happy day.

Tagged with Minecraft