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Minecraft: New marketplace for community creators By Steffan Powell Newsbeat reporter 10 April 2017 Minecraft wants to make it easier to access content created by community members and fans. Many users have already created complex worlds to explore, adventures for play, and even modified the game to offer new experiences. Now they will be able sell that content directly through the game in the new Minecraft Marketplace. John Thornton, producer of Newsbeat, explains that the platform aims to allow entrepreneurs to start businesses. Until now people who create adventure maps, character skin packs or experiences to play in the game have not been allowed to sell them directly to other players. Official Minecraft content cannot be sold in this way. However, some people still make a living playing the game. James Delaney, founder of Blockworks, is a group that creates Minecraft. He has managed to build a business despite the restrictions. He welcomes the Marketplace. He told Newsbeat that he hopes it will be the beginning of a steady and regular income. "In the past, we've relied on commissions to arrive in, but you're never sure when that will be." He oversees 62 creators in 20 countries. Their main source for income comes from the creation of Minecraft-based content that can be used in marketing and educational campaigns. James "got quite into" building Minecraft maps with friends online and realised a few years later that there was an opportunity to make a living. He states, "Attaining that we know there are people who will be interested in our content now is a good thing." "If it is successful, we know that our ability to keep working on an ongoing and more stable basis will be increased." "Also, the content is ours to create, not be asked to make. We have creative control over it." The marketplace will go live later this year and will be accessible on the Windows 10 and Pocket versions of the game. This means that Minecraft's estimated 120 million players will have full access to it. However, console-playing gamers won’t. John Thornton says, "Our vision it to try and link creators with our gamers." "On Pocket Edition it can be difficult get content onto devices. EXTREMECRAFT It's therefore difficult for creators show off content they wish to share with the rest of the world. "By connecting creators to marketplace it will make it much simpler for players to discover what they want, buy it, then have it on them." People will still have the ability to create community experiences in the marketplace. Players will also be able free access to them. Producers hope people will pay for content that is more easily found. "If you want to share content at the moment you have to put it somewhere on the internet and tell people where to find it," says John. "You can use existing social media to do that, but it's way more effective if we bring that into the game itself. "Players, within the context of playing the games they love, can find what they want to interact." He hopes that James can build a successful business from the game. The Minecraft team will launch the new service starting with nine creators from around the globe. The central Minecraft team will monitor adventure maps and skin packs to make sure they're appropriate. Find us on Instagram at BBCNewsbeat and follow us on Snapchat, search for bbc_newsbeat