Announced today, Minecraft is getting a marketplace that will release when update 1.1. Discovery releases this spring. In addition, there will be a new currency called Minecraft Coins, as well ways to purchase these coins through in-app purchase.
Arriving with the 1.1 Discovery Update this Spring, Minecraft Marketplace is a new program that will give players on our Bedrock Engine platforms (mobile and Windows 10 PC) the opportunity to browse, download and play cool community creations from within the game itself. You can discover all kinds of amazing new content in the Discovery Update (see what we did there??).
Why is this happening? The idea is to give mobile and Windows 10 players access to a growing catalogue of fun stuff, curated and supplied by us – the Minecraft team – safely and simply, while giving Minecraft creators another way to make a living from the game, allowing them to support themselves in the creation of future projects.
How do I purchase/sell content? To make all of this happen, we’re introducing Minecraft Coins, which players can buy using in-app purchases with real currency on their device. We know that Minecraft players often play Minecraft on multiple devices, so we are working toward making content players buy available on multiple devices as well, enabled by a free Xbox Live account
What do you think? This platform will polarize people for sure, but, at the end of the day, this is another way to create revenue streams for Microsoft.
