‘Minecraft’ Likely Coming to PlayStation, But Not Wii U

Minecraft is one of those wonderful success stories we’ll remember forever, and it may be a game that’s around forever because it thrives on user creation, not game development. In fact, the first alpha version release took Markus “Notch” Persson only one week to develop, although it became an ongoing process with continuous updates ever since. Now, the game has sold over 20 million units across its available platforms (over 9 million on PC) and to this day, still sits as the second most played game on Xbox Live, ranked higher than Halo 4 and FIFA 13.

Notch, and studio Mojang, have successfully tapped into everything everyone loves about LEGO and created a world, or better yet, a way to let players make worlds, and do whatever they want in them. Such a simple concept powered by such a dated engine and graphics, and it’s all worked to the game’s benefit, earning a certain recognizable charm that we all fell in love with. So, what’s next for Minecraft? How about a PlayStation release?

A very last minute deal saw Minecraft make a surprise appearance at E3 2011, promising Kinect features which never came to fruition, but that partnership between Microsoft and Mojang paid off in spades. Minecraft is one of the best-selling downloadables ever for the Xbox 360 but the exclusivity is limited by the contract expiry date.

Lead Minecraft developer Jens Bergensten – who took over the job from Notch in December 2011 – said the following to iGamer about continued Minecraft expansion:


“Microsoft has an exclusivity deal for consoles. When it runs out we’ll consider Minecraft for PlayStation, but Wii U is very unlikely.”

And other gut punch for Nintendo who are seeing major release after major release skipping the Wii U as anticipation builds for its upcoming competitors in the PS4 and unannounced next-gen Xbox. As for PlayStation 3/4, you can count on Minecraft releasing on those consoles. There are literally millions of units waiting to be sold for the dedicated PlayStation fan base and it’s one of those titles that can literally offer a fun and safe experience for all demographics, casual or hardcore.

Are you a PlayStation-only owner? Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes and let him know if you’d buy Minecraft if available!

Minecraft is currently available on PC/Mac, Xbox 360 and iOS/Android.