Minefold launches with accessible Minecraft server hosting

Silicon Valley-based start-up Minefold has launched a consumer-targeted service allowing users to create or play on servers for Minecraft and soon other online games for a nominal fee, according to a report from TechCrunch. Previously, if you wanted to host a Minecraft server for your friends, you would need to set up and maintain one, or pay expensive monthly fees to rent one -- to cover costs, some server administrators collect money from players, and kick out anyone who doesn't pay their share. Minefold seeks to eliminate the technical hassles that come up with server administration, and to make it easy and cheap to get a Minecraft server going, by spreading the costs across players with its on-demand game servers. Users can create an account with Minefold that allows them to create servers, or play on its hosted Minecraft servers after paying $15 dollars for a three-month unlimited hours plan ($25 for six months, $45 for a year). Non-subscribers can play for free for 10 hours, too. The way the servers are set up, even if the original creator quits playing the server, everyone else can continue to play in that Minecraft world. Minefold's servers also allow players to show off maps for their worlds online, and clone others' servers. While Minefold only supports Mojang's popular indie sandbox PC game Minecraft so far, the company intends to eventually offer servers for other titles across desktop, mobile, and console platforms, according to the report.