Many Minecraft players were lucky enough to receive a cape when attending Minecon back in 2017 and before. Unfortunately, this was the only way to nab an official Minecraft cape for free.

The devs want everyone to switch over to Microsoft accounts for "improved security and player safety", and they're enticing people to make the change with the promise of free Minecraft capes.

Mojang have announced that they will be shifting Minecraft Java Edition away from the old Mojang accounts to join the rest of the company’s games in requiring a Microsoft account in order to play.

Microsoft’s free Minecraft for Windows 10 giveaway ends at midnight for Java players Legacy Minecraft: Java Edition players can still snag free codes to the Windows 10 Edition until midnight.

Existing Java users will need to make the "mandatory" transition in early 2021. This will happen in batches, and once you've been transitioned you'll receive a free cape.