Beginner’s Guide to the Minecraft Marketplace
You might’ve started playing Minecraft in Java Edition, back in the day when there was no other version. Then you’d be like me. You might also have not even know Bedrock and its marketplace was a whole thing up until a few years ago.
Then you’d be even more like me.
Much like how Roblox, or any other game has purchasable expansions/DLC available, so does Minecraft: Bedrock Edition.
Players like you and me can make these and sell them themselves if they join Microsoft’s partner program.
Sounds great? Keep going.
How to Access the Minecraft Marketplace
It’s fairly easy to access the marketplace from the launcher. Just launch Bedrock Edition (you need a Microsoft account for this!), and on the main menu you’ll see a well-decorated little button that says “Marketplace”. Click on it.
From there, you’ll see the main page with one big banner and four smaller ones next to it.
These are part of the “featured” section, and they change every week so you can always find something new and fresh.
Other than that, there’s a navigation bar on the left (on PC), and on the top right, there is a search bar you can use to look for specific things.
Minecoins, Price Tiers, and Free Content
Before you buy anything on the Marketplace, you’ll need to understand how Minecoins work.
They’re a substitute for real money that you buy from Microsoft, and then you use them to buy content.
There are different prices for Minecoins in different countries, but the one thing that is the same everywhere is the “tiers” of content.
For example, a skin pack worth 320 Minecoins will be worth that amount everywhere, but 320 Minecoins may not cost the same amount of money in different places.
Generally speaking, better content is more expensive in Minecoins, and skin packs are usually in the lower price range.
Content that has a build and development will usually cost a lot more.
Occasionally, you can also find some free content, usually by the Minecraft team themselves.
These vary from small educational add-ons that teach you about a real-life subject to full-blown adventure maps with hours of custom content.
My personal favorite free map is Terra Swoop Force by Noxcrew
What Kind of Content Can I Find on the Marketplace?
All content on the marketplace is divided into these categories:
Skin packs
Worlds
Texture packs
Between these, there are also mashups that contain two or more of the above categories. Adventure maps are that, but with a story too!
Skin packs are pretty self-explanatory, they’re just a pack of at least 6 skins.
Some have even up to 80 skin packs per pack.
Worlds are usually just a build with some added chests that have loot in them.
They’re meant to give you a nicer survival experience so that you don’t have to bother making a base if you’re feeling a bit lazy.
Texture packs are a bit scarce on the marketplace, as they take a long time to make and people don’t buy them as frequently.
There are a lot of free texture packs on Java, so for me personally, it never really feels worth it to get any that aren’t free on Bedrock.
Mashups are very diverse in the type of content they can have and are generally the best thing to buy on the marketplace. Just look at this cyberpunk mashup from Team Visionary
Adventure maps are also varied in content, but also have neat little storylines you can play and let you roleplay as something cool! In this one by Meraki, you can explore a cute resort and do small quests for the staff.
The Partner Programme & How to Apply
For those of you who are interested in making your own content and selling it to other players, Microsoft offers a partner program where they hand-pick new members.
There are a few requirements for the program, like having experience in creating this type of content before, obvious experience in the game, etc.
And even if you don’t meet these requirements, Microsoft offers really extensive documentation on how to make content for Bedrock. You can find that on this link.
If you’re interested in applying, you can find the link here.
Applications are closed right now, but they open periodically once every few months, so be on the lookout and refresh the page once a week!