Minecraft to hit Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PS Vita in August

Minecraft developer Mojang has today announced that the much loved dig and build-em-up will arrive on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in August this year. The next gen versions of the game were teased at E3 2013 by Microsoft and at Gamescom 2013 by Sony, but until now, no real time scale has been given.

If you don't know what Minecraft is all about (er, where have you been?) it sees players dig and build their way around large open worlds, hunting for rare commodities and battling various zombies and skeletons in the process. It has proved immensely popular since its public release in 2009, racking up over 14 million PC sales as of February this year as well as 12 Million Xbox 360 sales as of April. The PlayStation 3 version sold over a million in the first 5 weeks alone.

And the trend is set to continue as it was also announced today that owners of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions will be able to upgrade to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions respectively for just $4.99. Furthermore, PlayStation 3 owners of Minecraft will be able to download the PS Vita version for free. All three versions (Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 + Vita editions) will cost $19.99. No prices for other regions have yet been provided but it's safe to presume it will be around £20 and £5 for the upgrade in the UK.

The next gen versions of Minecraft promise larger worlds, though still not as large as the PC version, multiplayer servers and the ability to carry forward "Many, but not all, of the DLC skins and texture packs you've purchased for PlayStation 3/Xbox 360" although it's not clear which will not be able to be transferred. PlayStation 3 owners will be able to use all of their DLC on PlayStation Vita, however.