Minecraft's Nether update is finally upon us, meaning that more and more of you will be jumping back into the game to explore the new additions to the Nether.
Of course, exploration in any game is made much more fun when you can do it with your friends, but since Minecraft originally released in 2009, it's likely you might now be split across different gaming platforms.
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Luckily, Minecraft now supports cross-play between different consoles. Read on to find out how to use it.
What is cross-play?
Cross-play is the ability to play online multiplayer games with friends and players on different gaming platforms.
Previously, if you owned an Xbox then you would only be able to play with other Xbox owners, and PlayStation owners would only be able to play with other PlayStation players.
However, over the past few years, video game companies themselves have started pushing for more cross-platform play in their games.
Rocket League was one of the first mainstream games that supported cross-play, and off the back of its success, further titles began supporting cross-play, including Fortnite, Call of Duty, and Minecraft.
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Which consoles support cross-play?
While Sony initially held out on supporting cross-play with other consoles (particularly with the Xbox), pressure from consumers led to the company changing their stance.
Minecraft now supports cross-play between the Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS devices, and Android devices.
How to setup cross-play
Cross-play on Minecraft all works using Xbox Live, meaning that you'll need to have a Microsoft account to play (Note: This does not mean you need to pay for Xbox Live)
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Once you have a Microsoft account, open Minecraft on your non-Xbox console. Here, you will see a tab that says Sign in with a Microsoft Account. If you click on this, it will bring up a unique 8-digit code, of which you need to enter at the following site: https://aka.ms/remoteconnect.
After you enter the code and log in to your Microsoft account, you will be connected and ready for cross-play on your console!
How to start a cross-play game
Now you're all set for cross-play, select the Play tab and go to your friends list.
Here, you can start cross-play by clicking on the Find Cross-Play Friends option, which will allow you to search for your friends via their Xbox/Microsoft Gamertag.
Once they've accepted your request, their joinable game will pop up in the Active Friends section for you to jump into.
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