‘Minecraft: Xbox One Edition’ Beats PS4 To The Punch, Releasing This Week [Update]
Microsoft and Head of Xbox Phil Spencer made a surprise announcement for Minecraft: Xbox One Edition during the late hours of Tuesday night. The open-world sand box game made it out of certification quickly and will be available to download this Friday, September 5.
Spencer made the announcement over Twitter with the following.
Over 13M of you played Minecraft #Xbox360. This Friday, join us in building even bigger worlds in Minecraft #XboxOne. http://t.co/MHpZrIuzPl
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) September 3, 2014
This definitely was a surprise as Minecraft for the Xbox One was just sent to certification only last Friday. This means that the game will have passed certification in less than a week and signals Microsoft’s intention of getting its version out first over the upcoming PS4 release.
We’ve handed Minecraft: Xbox One Edition over to Microsoft for final test! #MinecraftXbox1 pic.twitter.com/IFOdDRxyuD
— 4J Studios (@4JStudios) August 29, 2014
Minecraft: Playstation 4 Edition was sent back to Sony for certification last week after it failed to pass the first time, as The Inquisitr reported. There’s been no update since on the status of it or the PS Vita Edition. Update: Or is there? After this article was posted, Mojang’s Daniel Kaplan posted the following on Twitter.
And Sony friends – you will get a Minecraft surprise soon..or maybe sooner?! ?
— Daniel Kaplan (@Kappische) September 3, 2014
Update 2: Yep, Sony is the one who is beating Microsoft to the punch now. They just had to get everything worked out behind the scenes before they could announce that it is coming on Thursday, September 4. Get the full details in this Inquisitr article.
Continue Original Story
Minecraft: Xbox One Edition will cost $19.99 at release. However, the game can be purchased for just $4.99 if you’ve ever played it with the same Xbox LIVE account. We reported the shocking bit of news last week that you don’t actually have to own the game, just have played it at some point to get the $15 discount.
Microsoft also confirmed that there will be more ways to pick up Minecraft: Xbox One Edition coming soon.
Later this month, select retailers will sell the full game Digital Download Code and the full game packaged disc will be on retail store shelves globally this holiday, just in time for gift giving.
Minecraft: Playstation 4 Edition and Minecraft: Xbox One Edition will support worlds that are 36 times larger than the PS3 Edition and Xbox 360 Edition. They will also support transferring worlds to the new editions. Increased multiplayer size and the ability to increase transferred world sizes will have to wait for an update, however.
Existing Xbox 360 and PS3 owners of Minecraft can upgrade to the next-gen console version for $5. If you have already purchased or plan to purchase Minecraft: Playstation 3 Edition, you will receive Minecraft: PS Vita Edition for free. Minecraft creator Mojang also recently teased the possibility of custom servers so console players can run persistent worlds even when they are not playing.
Existing skin packs and texture packs will carry over to Minecraft: Playstation 4 Edition, Minecraft: PS Vita Edition, and Minecraft: Xbox One Edition. The exception is the Marvel skin packs due to licensing rights.
Updates for the Minecraft will continue for all platforms once the PS4 Edition, Xbox One Edition, and PS Vita Edition are released starting with update TU 17 / 1.07. Horses, Wither bosses, and Hoppers have all been teased for future updates; we just don’t know which one yet.
Will you pick up Minecraft: Xbox One Edition when it releases Friday? Let us know in the comments below.
[Images via Xbox Wire]
