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Minecraft will be available on Xbox Game Pass next month

Minecraft's massive user base is about to get a little bigger when Mojang's world-builder hits Xbox Game Pass next month.

Ozzie Mejia

March 12, 2019 2:05 PM

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The Xbox Game Pass lineup is about to receive one of its biggest additions to date. The service already boasts some the Xbox's biggest first-party and third-party games, but it's about to get a major boost this coming April in the form of highly-acclaimed world builder Minecraft.

Xbox Game Pass will add the full base Minecraft experience from developer Mojang. This includes the Survival, Adventure, and Creative game modes for both single-player and multiplayer. Split-screen will be available, but those looking to engage in online multiplayer will need an Xbox Live Gold membership to go along with their game.

Minecraft has grown exponentially since 2009 and continues to add new features regularly. The most noteworthy update the game has received in recent months was the big Update Aquatic, which introduced undersea exploration and a variety of ocean-based activities, wildlife, and rewards. The next major update is Village & Pillage, which was first introduced at MineCon Earth 2018. This update will introduce whole new villagers to Minecraft's various biomes. No word on when Village & Pillage will release, but look for it to arrive later in the year.

Those who opt to pick up Minecraft on Xbox Game Pass won't have a shortage of people to play with. The game boasts tens of millions of active users, with Mojang recently revealing that 91 million players have jumped into their world from nearly every country in the world. Many of those are players, but there are also millions of creators who have contributed their own masterpieces to the in-game world, some of which can be purchased from the Minecraft Marketplace. Mojang also introduced cross-platform play with several other iterations of the game, including iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch.

Look for Minecraft to hit Xbox Game Pass on April 4. The service is $9.99 a month, with new subscribers able to jump in for $1 for their first month.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?