Microsoft announces Minecraft cross-platform play

Minecraft is getting full cross-platform support this summer in the upcoming Better Together update. The update, announced at Microsoft's E3 press conference, will unite all versions of Minecraft, meaning the Pocket Edition you may have been playing will become plain ol' vanilla Minecraft when the update goes live.

This is pretty big news, as all Minecraft players will be able to play together, regardless of platform. That will greatly expand the player pool and scope of what is already one of the most massive video games out there to date. Players can join one of four servers, with more to potentially follow later: Lifeboat, Cubecraft, InPVP, and Mineplex. Mineplex. The Java version of Minecraft, however, won't be included in this update, so plan accordingly.

At the same time, Mojang is introducing some serious graphical updates to the game, improving lighting effects, water, and much more to ensure that all versions of the game are on even footing. However, if you prefer the way the game looked before, you can always switch back.

What do you think about Minecraft going cross-platform? Is it a good move, or more trouble than its worth?