While Samsung Gear VR owners have been enjoying the world building delights of Minecraft Gear VR Edition since April, those who own the mobile head-mounted display’s (HMD’s) bigger brother, Oculus Rift have had to wait. Today that wait is over as the PC-based headset now supports Minecraft Windows 10 Edition Beta.
Minecraft is a worldwide success story where players can explore, mine, build and share their creations which are limited only to their imaginations. One of the biggest features touted for Minecraft Windows 10 Edition Beta is the cross-platform support. Players from across the world can play simultaneously whether they own the Oculus Rift, Gear VR, Android, iOS or Windows 10 version.
The virtual reality (VR) version has been specially tuned to the technology with Oculus saying in a blog posting: “This update comes fully-featured, with controls specifically optimized for an intuitive VR experience. Be sure to take advantage of the awe-inspiring, fully immersive first person mode, as well as a theater view for a more comfortable option. And with features like Realms, you can create and adventure with a group of friends or family in your own permanent Minecraft world that’s always available.”
Mojang has also released a new video how the studio went about adapting Minecraft for VR, discussing how the preconceived thoughts on making the experience smooth and elastic didn’t work for the technology, and the addition of a Minecraft living room so players can come out of their world and play like you would on a TV.
Minecraft Windows 10 Edition Beta is listed as free on the Oculus website but to upgrade to the full version will cost $9.99 USD in-game. For those who already own Minecraft Windows 10 Edition Beta the Oculus Rift update is free.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of Minecraft Windows 10 Edition Beta, reporting back with any new announcements.
