Basically title, this thing with two editions of the game slows down development because they now have to write the same thing twice and it splits the userbase. They also don’t want to make Bedrock edition for Linux for some reason.
Basically title, this thing with two editions of the game slows down development because they now have to write the same thing twice and it splits the userbase. They also don’t want to make Bedrock edition for Linux for some reason.
I suspect the real answer is because Microsoft wanted to monetize Minecraft in a way which was not possible with legacy sales. I bought minecraft back in alpha with the promise that I would get any and all updates and future editions for free with purchase. Microsoft legal saw that agreement and knew it was incompatible with their business goals. They knew that incorporating a microtransaction store would basically require unlimited currency for players like me who had purchased it long ago. So the “simple” answer was to re-implement the entire game without the legal encumbrance of the legacy purchases.
Basically this.
I do want to point out, they COULD do BE ethically. Remove the subscription option and take a cut for all mod sales, and let private server operators and Realms use purchased mods while continuing to not charge players. Then put a legal ToS condition that using Realms requires such servers be operated without profit. Watch people set up private servers and Realms for their friends and charge private servers for API access. Done deal.
Of course, somebody at Microsoft wasn’t satisfied with that. They wanted complete control.
Protips for preparing for a potential end of java in a way that at least forces M$ to do something actually productive: