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petterroeatoday at 6:34 AM0 repliesview on HN

When bedrock was announced I was sure Microsoft had won the os arms race and had everything they needed to make an impenetrable monopoly:

* They could make bedrock moddable using .net, and make it so basically every kid interested in programming learned .net

* They could then drop the Java version and get more control over the game with it being harder to mod in un-sanctioned ways while still enabling the content most people want from mods

* And gain a powerful platform they can use to treat Windows/Xbox players better.

* With everyone writing .net it makes more sense to use Windows to develop, effectively reducing the number of fresh developers with posix experience. Stopping the mass exodus to posix since the 2010s MacBook air sublime text nodejs days.

But alas. Microsoft are incompetent. Minecraft was THE tool to turn the future in their favour and they completely overlooked it.

Bedrock exists to make more money. They don't like the Java free modding. They want a marketplace. They want to make money off all content in the game. They want to sell DLC. Make no mistake, they aren't platforming modders to make money because they are charitable. It is because they want to profit, and they can profit at scale by outsourcing the work.

That is in my opinion why most people are against bedrock, including myself. Bedrock is capitalist Minecraft. Enshittified Minecraft, with much more enshittification potential not yet realized. Java version is the only thing protecting bedrock from not being milked further, because it is competition.

They know most people prefer Java. Content creators mostly use Java. But it sells bedrock, and bedrock makes money. And if they can get enough people over, they can kill Java and finally milk bedrock