Minecraft iOS debut set for after Sony Xperia launch
Back in February we told you that the popular Mojang sandbox game Minecraft would be making its official debut on iOS later this year (there had previously been an unofficial Minecraft for iOS). While it's still on schedule to debut for iOS in 2011, today Gamasutra broke the news that Minecraft will launch on the Sony Xperia Play first before it comes to other Android and iOS devices.
Minecraft originally debuted in 2009 as a Java game and allowed players to build worlds out of colorful cubes. While most traditional video games have invisible walls or visible barriers that restrict where players can go, Minecraft is a sandbox game where players can roam anywhere in the game's world.
The Minecraft game released with the Sony Xperia Play will feature controls that work with the handset's physical joysticks, but future Android and iOS versions will only allow for control via touchscreen. There's no word on how similar the game will be to the desktop version, but a Mojang employee told Gamasutra, "When playing on smartphones you will have a different screen size compared to PC, different hardware, different attention spans, and thus the game needs to be customized to fit the mobile specifications." Currently there is no pricing available for the game and no firm release dates, although Mojang is expected to reveal more details at E3 in June.
