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Better Together: Minecraft is Now Multi-Platform

Better Together: Minecraft is Now Multi-Platform
Patrick Devaney

Patrick Devaney

  • Updated:

Microsoft has begun to deliver on the promise that it made at this year’s E3. The “Better Together” plan it laid out was to make multi-platform Minecraft play between Xbox, Windows 10 and Nintendo Switch players a reality. Today Microsoft started rolling this out with Minecraft players on Xbox and Windows machines able to play with each other. Although the original plan included the Nintendo Switch, this is still a big deal.

Microsoft has pointed out that Switch players will be able to join the party this year with a holiday update scheduled. The problem is nothing to do with any business matters holding it up, it is purely a technical delay that Microsoft is working flat out, with Nintendo, to solve. Microsoft Studios corporate Vice president, Matt Booty said,

“We just flat-out couldn’t get those two completely in sync.”

Microsoft and Nintendo are in tune on this one with only Sony seemingly holding back on allowing PS4 users to get involved too. This is often the case for Sony, with their closed gaming eco-system being something they prize highly. As owner of Minecraft, Microsoft has not given up on Sony. Booty said:

“I certainly don’t want to speak for them, but it absolutely remains our goal to want to bring PlayStation into the mix with this.”

Minecraft isn’t the first game to get the cross-platform treatment as Rocket League players on the Xbox One are already able to square up against Nintendo Switch players. This is such a big deal though because of the sheer popularity of Minecraft. Microsoft sees itself as breaking barriers in the industry by bringing cross-platform play to one of the most popular video games ever.

“That sets the stage for what could possibly then become a broader approach. Right now we’re very focused on figuring this out with Minecraft. You gotta start somewhere, right?”

The feeling seems to be that if Microsoft can crack it with Minecraft there is absolutely no reason why it can’t crack it with other games in the future. We’ll have to just wait and see. Are you excited by this news? Let us know in the comments.

Patrick Devaney

Patrick Devaney

Patrick Devaney is a news reporter for Softonic, keeping readers up to date on everything affecting their favorite apps and programs. His beat includes social media apps and sites like Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat. Patrick also covers antivirus and security issues, web browsers, the full Google suite of apps and programs, and operating systems like Windows, iOS, and Android.

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