Yes, you can now make video calls in Minecraft

2 Dec 2015

Expanding the limitless possibilities of the game/learning tool Minecraft once again, a YouTube personality who plays the game has developed a means to allow him to make video calls in the game.

Minecraft, the game where people are encouraged to let their imaginations run wild and create whatever they want in a game, has been somewhat evangelised by both gamers and educators alike.

Quite rightly, given that previously we’ve seen someone actually create a working 16-bit computer in the game to have a computer within a computer.

But now, well-known Minecraft player and YouTuber Jordan Maron, otherwise known as CaptainSparklez, has teamed up with the US network provider Verizon for some clever PR to create a blocky, but completely functional, video screen.

Minecraft video call

In an eight-minute video, Maron puts all the necessary blocks in place, tinkers around with it, and eventually is able to connect the camera from his laptop on to the in-game screen.

While pretty hard to make out at times, Maron is able to show himself browsing the internet in real-time and putting his face on camera.

The actual code that is required to build the feature into the game was created in partnership with the marketing company Wieden+Kennedy and the game designers BlockWorks and it has now been posted to GitHub for all to see and use.

Pretty cool.

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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