If You Bought Minecraft on Xbox, Can You Play It on PC?

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Minecraft is one of the world’s most popular games, with over 238 million copies sold worldwide across all platforms, editions, and spin-offs. It’s an old game to which you can bring new light each time you start a new world. It’s no secret that Java and Bedrock Edition differ greatly, so would it be possible to play Minecraft on PC if you bought it for Xbox?

  • Article Breakdown:
  • You can play Minecraft on PC if you bought it for Xbox as long as you use an Xbox game pass account. Xbox is a Microsoft-owned product and features a thing called an Xbox game pass. It’s a monthly subscription that lets you play over 300 games for free.
  • What’s great about it is that Minecraft is part of the Xbox game pass and is featured on PCs. If you have Minecraft on Xbox, you can also play it on PCs using your Xbox game pass account.

Are different versions of Minecraft transferable?

When you buy Minecraft, you essentially buy a license to play the game, and each game version has a different license. To give context, a Nintendo Switch Minecraft license differs from a PS5 or Xbox One license. It is the same Edition, but it’s easy to realize why it is an entirely different game in terms of development.

The only way to play Minecraft on different consoles and platforms is to buy the game on the console to which you want to transfer the license. This upsets many people to this day because it’s redundant having to buy the same game repeatedly. Still, it seems to be standard practice in the gaming industry, and luckily, Minecraft is one of the cheapest games out there to this day.

Prices before and after

In May 2009, Minecraft was born and was free to play at first. Development only took six days, and thoughts and suggestions were shared with another member on an internet relay chat. In December 2009. Minecraft officially entered the indev development stage, and the price was raised to 5 euros which was the equivalent of 7.30 USD back in 2009. The price would be equivalent to a little over 10 USD by today’s standards.

In June 2010, Minecraft prices were raised again, and you’d now have to pay 10 euros for it or a little under 15 USD dollars which by today’s standards (counting in the inflation rates) would make Minecraft cost 20.55 USD. Within the same year, but counting December, the price was raised again, and you had to pay 15 euros or 19.8 USD. Its 2022 equivalent is 27 USD which is the price of Minecraft today.

In November 2011, the price was raised one last time, and you had to pay 20 euros for a copy of Minecraft, which was equal to 26 USD if you looked at the conversion rates from November 2011. The 2022 equivalent would be a little over 32 USD. All data were calculated using EUR to USD rates from the years the prices were raised and calculated to the 2022 version based on inflation values of 1 USD for each year and the worth of that same dollar in 2022.

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Java vs. Bedrock

Everyone argues about which version of Minecraft is better, and it’s always the fight between Java Edition and Bedrock Edition users, but what are the real differences between the two? Apart from some stats and game mechanics, the biggest difference between Java and Bedrock Edition is that Java was coded in Java, a programming language, whereas Bedrock Edition was coded in C++. I’d say that the most obvious reason when it comes to the gameplay is that you can mod and change up the Java Edition for free if you can find the right mod, texture pack, shader, or anything else for it.

Bedrock can only be moded using add-ons you must pay for in the Minecraft store. This holds true for all game versions, whether it is a PS4, PS5, and Xbox One or a Nintendo Switch version. An Exception would be Minecraft Pocket Edition, which is Bedrock but made to be played on phones.

Windows 10 Edition and Java

In 2015, in an effort to allow PC players to play the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft, Mojang released Minecraft Windows 10 Edition. If you thought it was just so they could make more money, they offered and still do offer the version for free. You’ll get either version for free if you own or would like to own either Java or Windows 10 Edition.

It’s worth adding that Minecraft Java Edition can be played on Mac, Linux, and Windows PCs, whereas the Windows 10 Edition remains native only to Windows 10 and 11. You can certainly play the Edition on a Mac computer, but that would mean you have to have a Windows 10 or 11 operating system installed.

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Is It standard practice in other games?

It never, or at least rarely was a practice in games where they gave out free versions of the game for other platforms. This isn’t and never was a reality because there are practical limitations to making it happen. It’s not up to Mojang to allow this, but it’s up to Nintendo, Sony, and, well, Microsoft-owned Xbox, so that’s why you can play Minecraft on Windows.

It’s likely that we’ll never witness a rise in games that you’re able to play on multiple platforms if you buy just one version. For example, Crash N. Sane Trilogy was released in 2018 and was a trip down memory lane when it came out. No one expected the game to be available for free just because you owned or owned each previous version. It partially has to do with the fact that the PlayStation store didn’t even exist then, and the PlayStation had no connection to the internet. However, leaving that aside, it’s normal not to expect a game developer to give out freebies.

Minecraft is a cheap game in comparison to other titles. Yes, it has poor graphics, but that’s not what Minecraft is about. Minecraft is about creativity and limitless possibilities that only your mind can create. For the price of just one Call of Duty (the exception is Vanguard), you could buy two Minecraft games.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!

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