Minecraft for Consoles to Get a New Female Default Skin

Move over Steve, it's time to make room for a new default name in the Minecraft world, and this one's bringing a taste of girl power to the scene.

Console versions of Mojang's popular sandbox game will soon meet Alex, the female counterpart to default character, Steve, later this week. She's being added in an attempt to create a more diversified player base on the home consoles, allowing players to choose and customize their own female avatar instead of being forced to play as good ol' Steve.

"When most players begin their Minecraft adventure there aren’t many looks to choose from. In fact, you only get to play as our blue-shirted friend," Owen Hill wrote on the Mojang's blog. "But jolly old Steve doesn’t really represent the diversity of our playerbase. For that reason, we’re giving all players opportunity to play with an Alex skin instead."

Alex has been around the PC MInecraft world since September's "Bountiful Update," but this is the first chance that console players get to bring her into their created universes.

This is a stellar idea and great news for Minecraft players that may not want Steve as their main character. Minecraft is clearly a game meant to be enjoyed by anyone who plays it, and while some female characters have existed in the form of premium skins, adding a female default character can make a person feel included right from the moment they press start. We applaud Mojang and MIicrosoft for the decision, and we hope there's more where that came from in the future.

The Alex skin for console versions of Minecraft will be available on April 29 for free on all console versions of the game.