Mojang has now confirmed that the popular block-based builder will finally arrive on the Nintendo Wii U this December. The announcement was made by Mojang in an official video, where lead developer Jeb Bergensten closed out a faux interview with the surprise announcement.
Minecraft will be releasing for the Wii U on December 17th, just in time for the holiday season. The company only confirmed that it would arrive as a purchasable title on the eShop, so those looking to buy it as a Christmas gift needn’t worry about wrapping paper.
Gamers looking to play Minecraft on the Wii U will have to shell out more cash compared to other console gamers, as the Nintendo edition will retail for a relatively hefty $29.99, whilst the Xbox One and PS4 versions sell for less at $19.99. Granted, the Wii U version will come with 6 add-on DLC skin bundles already included, but considering skins have always been free for PC players, that’s not much of an incentive to purchase the game at a higher price.
Fans can take a look at Jeb’s announcement video below, where they take a moment to talk about upcoming features in the PC release before getting down to the reveal:
Mojang also confirmed that more Minecraft content packs would be arriving to the Wii U in the near future, so those looking to purchase things like Nintendo-centric character skins will probably be able to do so sooner rather than later. Gamers from other consoles routinely get brand-specific downloadable content, and considering how easy it is for companies to make, it would be a baffling decision for Nintendo not to offer gamers the ability to mine dressed as Mario or Luigi.
As expected, the game will feature off-TV play, so gamers can continue playing on the GamePad while other family members take over the television. The studio also promised to keep supporting the core game with free updates, much like they do with the other console versions. PC Gamers still get access to the most updated version of the game ahead of time, and that won’t change, but it’s great to see that the popular building game will be available across all consoles.
Markus ‘Notch’ Persson, the creator of the game, recently commented that he thought it would be neat to see Steve as a Smash Bros character, so perhaps this announcement is the big catalyst in such a development. Only time will tell if Nintendo and Mojang evolve a larger partnership beyond launching the game on their console, but either way, everyone wins.
What do you think about Mojang finally bringing Minecraft to a Nintendo platform?
Minecraft is now officially available for iOS, Android, PC, Linux, Mac, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Vita, and Nintendo Wii U.
