Microsoft is launching an official store for „community-made goodies“ in Minecraft with curated content from nine professional partners, which players will pay for with new Minecraft Coins.<\/b>
Microsoft has announced the upcoming launch of a „curated marketplace“ for Minecraft , its blocky world-building game. The new Minecraft Marketplace will be the first official store for third-party content, and will offer add-ons – including maps, and skin and texture packs – from a range of „professional ‚content creators‘ selected by Microsoft“, the company said today.
The new store for „community-made goodies“ will launch with content from nine companies, but „anyone with a registered business“ can submit their content for consideration. The nine launch partners are:
We selected nine creators to launch with,“ John Thornton, Executive Producer of Minecraft Realms, said today. „This is a curated marketplace, it\u2019s not open, but we are going to work with creators to bring new ones in via an online portal, where they can apply to join. We think it\u2019s important from a quality perspective to have a curated marketplace where we are reviewing the items and working with creators to make sure the content is appropriate and exciting for players. “
Those who wish to make purchases from the new Marketplace will have to do so using a new digital currency called Minecraft Coins:
Microsoft explained that it „believes the move will make it safer and easier for Minecraft players to enhance and expand their worlds, as transactions take place within the game and downloadable content can be screened to ensure it doesn\u2019t contain viruses or malware. “ Players will also need an Xbox Live account to make purchases; Microsoft said that „you’ll be able [to] access whatever you buy across devices“ through Xbox Live, adding that it’s „currently talking with our platform partners about how to make this happen“.
The new Minecraft Marketplace won’t be available on all devices, though. It will come to Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition and Minecraft: Pocket Edition this spring, as part of the 1.1 Discovery Update that it announced last month .
A public beta will launch on Android „in mid-April“ – but Microsoft said that „this will focus on testing the new Minecraft Coins, so you won’t see any creator content“ in that initial preview.<\/p>\n