Minecraft is not only about breaking blocks or fighting ghosts but experiencing new worlds with your box-shaped friends. This widely popular gaming phenomenon has tried keeping the adventurous journey fresh by bringing new characters or worlds into the mix. But, it is now handing over the task of adding a variety modifications to the game to its community.
This will become possible as the game developer Mojang is today announcing the launch of Minecraft Marketplace, which will make a variety of in-game add-ons in exchange for a new virtual currency called Minecraft Coins. This will act as a store front right within the game. You will be provided access to fresh maps, texture packs, skins, mini-games and more, which are curated by the Minecraft team itself.
Speaking on the vision behind this launch, Mojang explains,
The idea is to give Minecraft creators another way to make a living from the game, allowing them to support themselves in the creation of ever-greater projects, while giving Pocket and Windows 10 players access to a growing catalogue of fun stuff — curated and supplied by us, safely and simply.
And, of course, you can still manually download free community creations you’ve found out there on the internet, too.
As for the working on Minecraft coins, this is a virtual in-game currency which replaces original money for the creators. The pricing is flexible and depends on the creators who’ve developed a particular piece of content. As is the norm for third-party creators, Mojang is planning to take a 30 percent from the sales while the rest goes to the developer.
Now, the marketplace changes things so you must have the question whether your content is portable across devices. And the answer is yes! Mojang is making in-app packages that you purchase across devices but you’d have to be logged in using an Xbox Live account. This is currently not set in stone and is in the works, but will most likely be finalized as Mojang works with Microsoft.
You will soon be in charge of keeping a check on the freshness of the game by making and adding new custom modifications to the Marketplace. Though the company will currently feature submissions from a handful of creators, but Minecraft eventually plans to open the store to anyone with a registered business. The launch partners for the Marketplace are Noxcrew, BlockWorks, Qwertyuiop The Pie, Blockception, Sphax, Eneija Silverleaf, Imagiverse, Polymaps, and Razzleberry Fox. Other can submit their applications here.
The Marketplace will go live along with the upcoming ‘discovery update,’ which has been scheduled for later this Spring. But, Mojang is planning to launch a public beta for Android users in mid-April. This beta will primarily focus on testing the working on Minecraft coins, no store content will be made available during this period.
This is a significant change to the gaming dynamics as most of the functions of the same have always been free. Previously, users had to download mods from the interwebs and load it into Minecraft and the same are now being brought right into the game itself. This will test the loyalty of Minecraft’s massive consumer base (100 million registered users) and if they’re willing to spend some bucks for new in-game content that’ll enhance their gameplay.
