Minecraft Pocket is going cross-platform, and you can test it out now

Minecraft has long been about bringing people together, but since variants of the game released on such a wide array of platforms, most crafters have found themselves stranded in their own particular console bubble, perhaps isolated from some of their crafty friends. Minecraft: Realms is looking to solve this problem. Once it officially launches (which, we don’t even have a prospective date on that yet) then you’ll be able to build and explore alongside other players on iOS, Android, PC, and Xbox One versions of the game.

This may be one of the largest cross-platform endeavors I’ve heard of, although if you know of another one, let us know in the comments. Right now, the developers are trying to get as many people as they can in on the alpha version of Minecraft: Realms, which is just an addition to the already-existing Minecraft: Pocket Edition. The idea is to find as many bugs as possible and accelerate development. Bringing all these diverse versions of Minecraft together has to be a complicated process.

There is one caveat to being eligible for for this Alpha test: you have to have an Xbox Live account. You don’t have to have the paid Xbox Live Gold membership, mind you, but you do have to at least have a gamertag. Fortunately, those are easy enough to set up. Click the button below to head on over to the Play Store and get started crafting with your friends no matter what smartphone, console, or computer they’re playing on.