Minecraft Pocket Edition users getting the upgrade for free

Feb 23, 2017 07:21 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft has finally announced Minecraft Windows 10 Edition for Windows 10 Mobile devices, giving users still sticking with its smartphone operating system the chance to play the game on their phones.

This isn’t the first time when Windows phone owners can play Minecraft, as Mojang previously offered the Pocket Edition with support for Windows mobile devices. Updates for this version were stopped in October 2016.

With the arrival of Minecraft Windows 10 Edition, Windows phone users get the full feature package on their devices, including achievements and realms.

Users who were already playing the Pocket Edition will get a free upgrade to the Windows 10 Mobile version of Minecraft completely free of charge, while new players can turn to the store to purchase the game for $6.99.

“We stopped shipping Minecraft updates for Windows Phone 8 back in October last year. Of course, players can still carry on building and exploring their worlds as they always have, but, to get access to the newest Minecraft goodies, DLC and other fun stuff, you’ll have to upgrade to the Windows 10 Mobile version of the game,” Microsoft’s Mojang explains.

A new reason to stay

It goes without saying that this announcement is good news for Windows phone users, especially because Microsoft has more or less ignored the platform lately.

The market share of Windows Phone is collapsing and according to research firm Gartner, only 0.3 percent of the phones sold last quarter were powered by Microsoft’s mobile operating system. By bringing Minecraft Windows 10 Edition on Windows phones, however, Microsoft and Mojang finally give players a reason to stick with the platform, especially in these difficult times when many people seem to be switching to Android and iOS.

What’s important to know is that the new Minecraft version can only be played on phones running Windows 10 Mobile and not Windows Phone 8.1. If you’re still on the older version of the OS and your device supports the upgrade, you should move to Windows 10 Mobile as soon as possible.