Bedrock Edition

The Bedrock Edition (also known as the Bedrock Platform, Bedrock Codebase or Bedrock Engine) refers to the multi-platform family of editions of Minecraft developed by Mojang AB and Microsoft Studios. Prior to this term, as the engine originated with Pocket Edition, this entire product family was referred to as "Pocket Edition", "MCPE", or "Pocket/Windows 10 Edition".

Except on the Apple TV Edition, for which the Better Together Update has not yet been released, all Bedrock editions of Minecraft use the title Minecraft with no subtitle. Before the Better Together Update, they had different subtitles on each platform, including Pocket Edition (for all mobile platforms), Windows 10 Edition, Gear VR Edition, Apple TV Edition, Fire TV Edition, and Xbox One Edition.

Although all Bedrock versions are nearly identical, the price varies depending on the platform. Approximately in USD, mobile versions cost $7 and console/TV versions cost $20. The Windows 10 PC version is the most expensive, at $27, although it is possible for owners of the Java Edition to obtain a redeemable code for the Windows 10 Bedrock Edition rather than paying for it again. DLC purchased from the Marketplace on one platform is usable on all other platforms, but the game itself is sold separately on each platform. On the Microsoft Store, Minecraft is not a UWP app, so it is sold separately at different prices for Windows 10 PCs, Windows 10 Mobile, and Xbox One. As with the Legacy Console Edition and Java Edition, updates are free of charge.

Gameplay
The objective of the game remains the same as its Java and Legacy Console Edition counterparts, where players can build virtual realities in a sandbox-like environment. Like its counterparts, Bedrock Edition also has survival elements present in other versions of the game such as brewing, hunger, and dimensions like the Nether and the End. The multiplayer mode is cross-platform compatible between all touch-screen and console devices capable of running the Bedrock Edition.

Bedrock Edition differs from the Java Edition in a variety of ways, such as more vibrant graphics, revised terrain and exclusive items. The development team stated that once Bedrock Edition is up to date with Java, it will start making its own diverse progress. The HUD and other elements are adapted for each relevant device. Interactions are made either via keyboard and mouse, touchscreen or controller.

Differences from the Java Edition include:


 * Some mobs have some sort of difference from their Java Edition counterparts.
 * Multiplayer allows for 4 ways of player connection:
 * Through LAN, allowing for 8 players to be on a single world
 * Through Minecraft Realms.
 * Through a user-created external server. A list of server software can be found on Bedrock Edition server software.
 * Through Xbox Live
 * A list of "featured" (Microsoft partner) servers, offering predefined multiplayer mini-games in a Minecraft setting, is also provided.

Some features of the Bedrock Edition are only available on certain platforms.
 * Splitscreen is only available on Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
 * Virtual reality is only available on Gear VR and Windows 10.

Compatible devices
Some devices below these specifications have been known to work fine either with or without custom ROM images, kernels, and overclocking of the CPU. However, the CPU "MSM7227" is not supported due to its lack of the floating-point unit. The processor "Tegra 2" is also not supported because the processor has no support for Neon.

Development

 * Planned versions
 * Mentioned features
 * Removed features
 * Development versions

Release
A video of an early prototype was released on Twitter, showing the game on the Xperia PLAY. The alpha version was later released, and became no longer exclusive to the Xperia PLAY on the 7th of October 2011. The non-exclusive version was going to be released on September 29th for Android but there were several severe bugs that needed to be fixed; the release was delayed until the 7th of October.

A version for iOS devices was confirmed to be released before 2012 in an interview with Mojang and was subsequently released on the 17th of November 2011

Alpha
After the initial releases for Android and iOS, updates were released in parallel, with the same features being added for both platforms. During the Alpha stage, various aspects of gameplay were introduced into the Bedrock codebase including: crafting, smelting, more blocks, items, mobs and more game modes to bring it closer to the Java Edition. As the Minecraft Pocket Edition development team works closely, often blocks released on the computer version are released around the same time for the Pocket Edition. Certain features were also tested on Pocket Edition before their Java releases, such as beetroots and their related items, and also block models.

During the Alpha phase, the Bedrock Edition was ported to more platforms: first the Pocket Edition was released for FireOS on September 13, 2012, and for Windows Phone on December 10, 2014. The Windows 10 Edition Beta was released on July 29, 2015, at a higher price than the Pocket Edition, although Java Edition owners can redeem a copy for free. The Gear VR Edition was released April 27, 2016 for the same price as the Pocket Edition.

Two spin-offs, based on the Bedrock codebase, but separate from the Bedrock Edition, were also released during this period. The Pi Edition is a free version of Minecraft for the Raspberry Pi, which remains on an old alpha version of Bedrock. The Education Edition was released for Windows 10 and Mac on November 1, 2016.

Full Release
On November 11, 2016, 1.0 (the Ender Update) was announced. It was released on December 19, 2016, along with the Apple TV Edition and Fire TV Edition. Pocket Edition began to receive updates again for Windows 10 Mobile on February 22, 2017.

From 1.2, the Better Together Update, all editions of the Bedrock Edition no longer have the "Edition" subtitle and are renamed to simply "Minecraft". A port of the Bedrock Edition for Xbox One was released along with the update, and one for Nintendo Switch is scheduled for the end of 2017. Owners of the original Legacy Console Edition for these consoles will be able to download the new version for free.

Builds
Starting on November 22, 2013, Mojang began to publicly release testing versions of full updates to Android users who opt into the beta program, in order to get major feedback, especially for bug reporting. This enabled the official updates to be considerably more stable.

Versions from 0.8.0 to 0.12.1 required opting into a Google+ group to receive development builds. Players would then see development updates appear as normal updates in the Play Store. On July 17, 2015, the Google+ group was removed due to the amount of spam and advertisements that the group attracted."  On November 3, 2015, the PE Beta team published a dedicated blog which was subsequently used for users to opt into the 0.13.0 beta program and to display changelogs for these development builds.

The Xbox Insider Hub app is used to opt into the beta program on Windows 10 since July 31, 2017, and on Xbox One since August 24. Before the release of the Better Together Update, the Xbox One beta was available only to owners of the digital version of the original Xbox One Edition, and not owners of the disc version.

Sales
As of December 2013, Pocket Edition (the only Bedrock Codebase edition at the time) had sold 16.5 million copies, while at the same time, the Java edition had sold 13 million. These calculations came out after the 0.8.0 update. This was considered a huge success, with Pocket Edition outselling both the Java Edition and Console Edition, despite being considered to be the least-developed at the time.

On December 2, 2016, Marsh Davies announced that Pocket Edition had sold over 40 million copies (at the time, Java Edition had sold over 24 million). It is not clear if this statistic included Windows 10 Edition and other Bedrock Codebase editions or not.

Pocket Edition is also usually in the top 10 and regularly #1 in the App Store's and Google Play's Paid Apps Section in the Top Charts.