Minecraft is probably the most iconic game in the world. It's the one with all the blocks, where creativity comes alive. For a long time, though, players on Minecraft's Bedrock Edition were missing one of the game's most important accessibility features, despite it having been available in Java Edition for years.
In fact, as a Java player, I had no idea it hadn't already made its way to Bedrock. I'm talking, of course, about the new closed captions.
For those unfamiliar, they're an accessibility feature that provides both text and visual cues for sounds happening around you. Whether it's footsteps, a door opening, or that dreaded creeper sneaking up behind you, closed captions help you better understand your surroundings without relying solely on audio.
To enable closed captions in Minecraft Bedrock Edition:
- Go to Settings.
- Open Accessibility.
- Enable Closed Captions and adjust the settings to your liking.
I'm all for accessibility features like this. They don't negatively affect anyone who chooses not to use them, but they can make a huge difference for players who are deaf or hard of hearing, process audio differently, or simply need a little extra help enjoying the game. Features like these allow more people to experience games without barriers, and that's only ever a good thing.
I haven't actually played Minecraft in a while myself, although the annual two-week Minecraft phase seems to come for all of us eventually. Not too long ago I covered a fan-made Halo modpack for Minecraft, and as a lifelong Halo fan, that definitely caught my attention, so I might jump into that soon.
That said, there are so many great games releasing lately that it's hard to stick with just one, let alone go back to Minecraft. Even so, it's a game I've been playing since the early beta days, long before Microsoft owned the franchise, so I know it's only a matter of time before I end up jumping back in.
Enough about my thoughts, though. I'd love to hear what you think about this feature and whether it'll make a difference to the way you play Minecraft. Let me know in the comments below, and as always, be sure to take part in our poll below:
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