New version of Minecraft unveiled for Microsoft’s Windows 10

Could Minecraft be the killer app for Windows 10? A new version of the blockbuster game is coming for Windows 10, and it will be available when Microsoft’s new operating system debuts on July 29.

That’s the news this morning from Mojang, the Minecraft developer, which wasacquired by Microsoft last year for $2.5 billion. “Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta,” announced at Minecon 2015 in London, will be available for free to the 20 million people who already have the Flash-based PC version of the game, according to the company. Anyone else can get the game for $10 during the beta period.

Here’s the list of highlights, as released by Mojang this morning.

• Craft, create, and explore online with up to seven friends playing Windows 10 Edition Beta, through local multiplayer or with your Xbox Live friends online.
• Play online and local multiplayer with other Pocket Edition players thanks to a free update, due to arrive soon after launch.
• Multiple control schemes! Switch between controller, touch, and keyboard controls with little to no effort!
• Record and share gameplay highlights with built-in GameDVR.
• Help shape the future of Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta with our built player feedback mechanisms!
• Chickens, zombies, pigs, boats, armed skeletons, potatoes, zombies, baby squids, enchantment tables, villagers, naked sheep, iron golems, potions, ghasts, pickaxes, carrots, and all the weird and wonderful goodness you’ve come to expect from Minecraft.

This follows the earlier announcement of a Minecraft game in the works for Microsoft’s Hololens holographic headset.

Also at Minecon this morning, Telltale Games gave a first look at Minecraft: Story Mode, an upcoming episodic game set in the Minecraft world. It’s scheduled for release later this year. Here’s the trailer.