‘Minecraft’ Receives Christmas Day Update on PS3, PS4 Patch Not Coming Until 2015

Not beginning their holiday vacation until the last minute, 4J Studios announced the release of the most recent Minecraft title update on the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita as the patch became available in North America on Christmas Day. The developer, who has been responsible for every console version of Minecraft to date, announced the Playstation Network release of the update on their official Twitter account. However, the team revealed that they are still awaiting approval before the update can launch on the new PlayStation 4 edition of Minecraft.

No news yet from Sony America on the PS4 update, but they have completed testing the PS3 & PS Vita update, and those are out now.

Unfortunately, PS4 owners will now have to wait until early next year to get their chance to play the latest update for Minecraft, since 4J Studios later announced that they have now taking a studio-wide vacation for the remainder of the year. The launch of Minecraft‘s PS4 title update, as well as the release of a bug patch intended to fix any issues added with the update’s PS3 and PS Vita editions, will simply have to wait until 2015.

“4J are taking a break now, but we’ll be back after the New Year celebrations to fix the bugs being found in the update.”

Minecraft patch 1.12 on the Playstation Network is identical to Title Update 19 that launched on Xbox consoles earlier this month. The update brings several new gameplay features to the console editions of Minecraft for the first time ever. The biggest addition to 4J Studios’ console versions of Minecraft that was introduced in this month’s patch is the inclusion of horses and donkeys to the block-filled sandbox title.

Like many animals found within Minecraft, both of these newly added beasts of burden can be tamed and bred to be used by players as mounts. The update also gives users the ability to equip their horses in armor. While unable to wear protective gear of their own, donkeys also have the unique ability to carry items since they have their own inventory that functions similarly to chests.

The newest Minecraft update also adds several other new mobs to the game’s voxel world. This includes the player-crafted wither boss and wither skeletons. Witches can also now be encountered within Minecraft console editions, as well as non-aggressive bats that can spawn in underground areas.

While North American players are just now gaining access to patch 1.12 on Minecraft’s PS3 and PS Vita edition, the update previously launched across all Playstation platforms in Europe, as the Inquisitr reported late last week. The European release of the update came just days after the patch became available to download on Minecraft‘s Xbox One and Xbox 360 versions. Furthermore, the next-gen editions of the update are also already out on Microsoft consoles as well as all Playstation systems in Europe, while Playstation 4 owners will still have to wait for the Minecraft patch to launch in North America.

[Image via Microsoft Studios]