Minecraft Will Soon Offer Microsoft's Immersive Reader For Game Text

Microsoft's Immersive Reader, a tool that helps users read text and improve their reading skills, is coming to the educational version of Minecraft. The addition was announced on Thursday as one of multiple changes arriving in Minecraft: Education Edition, all of them focused on improving the learning and classroom aspects of the game.Minecraft: Education Edition is a version of the game with classroom-friendly features, including project-based lessons and more. The game is intended to help kids learn different skills through gameplay they're already familiar with and it is provided to educators.

In an update today, the company announced the Immersive Reader tool — which is already available as a standalone item and in select other products — will arrive in the educational version of the game. The tool helps kids deal with in-game text while they're still learning to read.

Immersive Reader is able to both read and translate text, including the text found in Minecraft's menus and character dialogue boxes. As demonstrated in the video above, each word is highlighted as it is read, helping kids learn to read the text on their own. This also frees up educators who may otherwise have to come over and read the text for students.

In addition to Immersive Reader, Microsoft is improving the multiplayer and classroom management experiences in this version of the popular game. Minecraft: Education Edition is being updated to include a Single Sign-on option, a new UI for educators, additional options for students who want to explore their work in the game, and shareable codes so that students and teachers can control who enters the game's worlds.

The changes will arrive in time for the new school season.