Minecraft: New marketplace for community creators By Steffan Powell Newsbeat reporter
10 April 2017
Minecraft wants to make it easier for players to get hold of content made by fans and community creators.
Many users have already built intricate worlds and adventures to play the game, or modified it to provide new experiences.
minecraft
Now they will be able sell that content directly through the game in the new Minecraft Marketplace.
John Thornton, producer at Newsbeat, says that "we want to enable entrepreneurs in setting up businesses on our platform."
Until now people who create adventure maps, character skin packs or experiences to play in the game have not been allowed to sell them directly to other players.
Official Minecraft content could not be sold in this manner, but it hasn't stopped some people earning a living from the game.
James Delaney, founder of Blockworks, is a group that creates Minecraft. He has managed to build a business despite the restrictions.
The Marketplace is a welcome development for him.
"Hopefully it's the start of regular and stable income," he tells Newsbeat.
"In the past, we relied on commissions to come into our businesses, and you never know when that will be."
He is responsible for 62 creators who work in 20 countries.
Their main source of income is from the creation of Minecraft-based content to market and educate.
James "got quite into" creating Minecraft maps with his friends online, and realized a few years later that it was possible to make a living from it.
He said, "At the very least, we know that there is an audience available for our content now."
"If it succeeds, we know that we can continue to work on a more consistent and stable basis."
"Also, it's content that we can choose to produce, instead of being asked to make it, so we have creative control over that."
The marketplace will go live later this year and will be accessible on the Windows 10 and Pocket versions of the game.
This means that the vast majority of Minecraft players worldwide, estimated at 120 million, will have access to the game. However, console gamers won't.
"Our vision is to try and connect creators with our players," says John Thornton.
"On Pocket edition it can be tricky to get content onto devices, so it's difficult for creators to show off content they want to share with the world.
"By connecting creators to the marketplace it'll make it much easier for players to discover something they want to play with, buy it and have it on their devices."
People will still be able to create community experiences outside the marketplace, with players able to access them for free.
Producers hope people will pay for content that is more easily found.
John says, "If you want people to share content right now, you need to put it somewhere online and tell them where it is."
"You can use social media, but it's far more effective to bring that into your game.
"Players can interact with the things they love in the context of the game they play."
He hopes that James can build a successful business from the game.
The Minecraft team is launching the new service with nine creators around the world.
The central Minecraft team will monitor adventure maps and skin packs to make sure they're appropriate.
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