Minecraft Friendly update brings dedicated servers

The Friendly Update for Minecraft was announced at Microsoft's E3 presser, and with it comes a few welcome updates to the Windows 10 Edition of the popular sandbox builder.

The Friendly Update for Minecraft was announced at Microsoft's E3 presser, and with it comes a few welcome updates to the Windows 10 Edition of the popular sandbox builder. John Carmack also made an appearance John Carmack, entering only as Carmack can: via a hidden wall wearing a VR headset.

Here's a rundown of everything coming in the update:

Cross-platform play Texture packs coming to Windows 10 Edition—players can make their own, and purchase packs for sale Realms—basically dedicated servers—available for free today on Windows 10 Edition Another picture of John Carmack we'll use until the sun swallows the earth

The changes reinforce that Microsoft wants to make Minecraft Windows 10 Edition the main version of the game, even if the original version still receives support. It's pretty weird getting texture packs as a feature, when they've been moddable in the original Minecraft for a while now, but it's hard to be confused about dedicated servers and cross-play. Seeing Carmack makes everything fall into place, though.