Minecraft: Xbox One Edition

As a dog owner, I can't say I'm hugely excited by this competition - but I've heard some people like cats, so here I am.

Pandas are coming to Minecraft.

There are other things too - the Village and Pillage update, a new free marketplace content called Inspirational Island, and the spin-off game, Minecraft: Dungeons, we told you about earlier today - but as pandas are the second greatest creature of all time, that's the hook I'm hanging this news story on.

As Minecon Earth 2018 wraps up, Mojang's Tom Stone confirmed that the next update, Village and Pillage, will release in 2019. As well as "new friendly folk" - as the "pillage" part of the title suggests - villages can be destroyed by nefarious ne'er-do-wells, who'll attack with a brand new weapon, the crossbow. Though slower to use than the humble bow, they're much more powerful, so it's just as well we'll be able to craft this superior weapon, too, and jazz it up with enchantments.

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Video game films are notorious for being pretty bad, but in the case of the upcoming Minecraft film by Warner Brothers, the problems are beginning even before the film hits cinemas.

If you haven't played Minecraft for some time, you may soon fancy dipping a toe in again, as the latest phase of the Update Aquatic is bringing a raft of new features to the game.

Phase two is now available for players on Windows 10, VR, mobile devices, Xbox One and the Nintendo Switch. The new release expands on phase one of the update, which itself brought a bunch of new additions; including nine ocean biomes, coral reefs, shipwrecks and some (very enticing) treasure chests.

So, what's new in phase two?

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Minecraft's Better Together version finally launches today for Nintendo Switch, and a new trailer has dropped to play up its cross-platform capabilities.

Xbox One and Nintendo Switch owners can now play Minecraft as if they were on the same platform but notably - as the trailer hammers home - it is just Nintendo and Xbox on board. Not Sony.

Minecraft's Better Together Update (which is in fact an entirely new game, although free to existing owners) is also compatible with Minecraft on Windows 10, iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

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Minecraft's long-awaited Update Aquatic has finally surfaced, and is now available on Xbox One, Windows 10, Gear VR and Oculus, mixed reality devices, and mobile.

Update Aquatic, as its name suggests, is designed to add more life to Minecraft's oceans. It's a major update too - so big, in fact, that developer Mojang has elected to release it in two parts. The first is out now, while phase two is "coming soon".

Once the new patch is installed, Minecraft players on supported platforms will be able to enjoy a wide selection of new fish and other water-dwelling creatures, including salmon, cod, pufferfish, tropical fish, and dolphins - the latter of which will follow boats across the ocean.

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Update Aquatic, the next big content drop for Minecraft, will be the last to arrive on older console platforms.

After this, Microsoft will no longer update the game's Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, or those on PlayStation Vita or Wii U.

The update will not arrive at all for those still playing the specific Xbox One and Nintendo Switch edition of the game - you'll have to switch over to the Bedrock version of Minecraft for these platforms instead. (The Switch version of the Bedrock edition still lacks a release date.)

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Mojang has announced that this year's MineCon Earth will take place on September 29th.

Earlier today, news outlets began reporting that schools and colleges across the UK were being closed following a spate of email bomb threats. It now appears that today's activities may have been a result of a feud between between Minecraft players.

Minecraft now has the option for you to test "experimental features" within the game's main client.

Master Chief, Microsoft's biggest gaming icon, is now available in Minecraft on Nintendo Switch.

The Minecon Earth show happened yesterday and a handful of Minecraft announcements were made. The biggest was the reveal of Update Aquatic, an entire overhaul to oceans coming spring 2018, and it has dolphins - dolphins that can lead you to treasure, which is Flippering marvellous.

As part of MineCon Earth 2017 this weekend, Minecraft fans will have the opportunity to vote for one of four brand-new mobs, with the most popular creature making it into the game.

When Microsoft announced Minecraft's Better Together update, fans cheered. Minecraft feels built for cross-network play. It's the world's biggest family game, an experience designed with collaborative play in mind, and now truly open to everyone regardless of device (except PlayStation).

At least, that's how it seemed. Sadly, the edition which has arrived on console is not quite what fans had envisioned.

Microsoft never did a great job of communicating the fact its Better Together Update is not actually an update for console owners. It's a completely different game - one which is almost identical to Minecraft's previous Pocket Edition for mobiles.

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Minecraft's big new cross-platform version is available right now on Windows 10 PC, Xbox One, iPhone and iPad, Android, and for VR devices.

It is a huge moment in the history of the game - and of gaming in general - although the Nintendo Switch version is lagging behind.

"We're working really hard with our partners at Nintendo to accomplish cross-device connectivity that is yet unprecedented in the history of gaming. This is very exciting work, but introduces lots of complexities to the development process," Minecraft's big cross-platform Q&A now explains.

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Halo will finally land on a Nintendo platform - in the shape of the Microsoft franchise's Minecraft mash-up pack.

A 3DS edition of Minecraft was just announced, and then revealed to be launching later today on the eShop.

UPDATE 21st AUGUST 12PM BST: The Minecraft Xbox One S bundle will be exclusive to retailers Argos and Sainsbury's in the UK, and be priced £350, Argos has confirmed.

Minecraft convention MineCon won't be held in a publicly attended physical location this year. Instead, it will be beamed into our hearts and minds via the magic of livestreaming.

Microsoft recently released a big new update for Minecraft that marked the beginning of cross-platform play, and alongside the update updated its safety features for playing the game online.

Minecraft's game-changing cross-network update is now available to beta test if you are on a Windows 10 PC or Android PC.

Xbox One beta access will follow "in the coming days", Microsoft stated in a blog update.

Each version will let you play with people on other platforms, such is the nature of Minecraft's Better Together Update, which will launch properly this autumn. (There's no beta for Nintendo Switch players, though Switch will also be getting cross-network play).

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Minecraft's various console versions just got a big new update, adding in new animals, structures, blocks, villagers, items and Achievements/Trophies.

Going by the latest post on Minecraft's official blog, it sounds like the game's last major update on consoles before the game-changing Better Together Update lands later this summer. That's the update which will unify Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, mobile, VR and Windows 10 editions of the game into a single entity where everyone can play together. It's also the update which PlayStation has opted out of.

As expected, however, "platforms which won't support the Better Together Update will continue getting updates even after it lands," Minecraft's Marsh Davies reassured.

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Sony has defended its decision to block cross-play between PS4 and Xbox One after coming under fire from gamers this week.

UPDATE: Minecraft's "Better Together" update will launch for Windows 10, iOS, Android, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and VR devices - but not PlayStation.

In what seems like a pretty logical team-up, kid-friendly animation series Adventure Time and perennial sandbox fave Minecraft are teaming up.

Minecraft's various console versions are getting Glide, a new free mini-game.

Minecraft continues to be an astonishing success - the sandbox game king has now sold more than 121m copies across all platforms.

A new Fallout-themed pack is heading to Minecraft's console versions, bringing fan favourites from the post-apocalyptic universe to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Vita and Wii U editions of the game. I think that's pretty much all of them.

What happens when you go up against Minecraft? What happens when you dare suggest gaming's golden child not belong in the classroom, then call it "a gimmick", then say "we need to drain the swamp of gimmicks"? It does not involve being sent nice flowers I'll tell you that.

Wings are finally coming to Minecraft: Console Editions in December.

Horror author Max Brooks is writing an official Minecraft novel.

Minecraft's next console update will get bears, beets and... banners.

In the words of PJ and Duncan, let's get ready to tumble, let's get ready to tumble, let's get, let's get ready ready, let's get ready to tumble.

The Minecraft movie officially has a release date... in 2019.

24th May to be exact. That's straight from the horse's mouth of Minecraft developer Mojang.

"Yes, that might seem like a long time away, but it just so happens to be the right amount of time to make it completely awesome," said Mojang COO Vu Bui. "And we all want an awesome Minecraft movie, right?"

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Minecraft's new Battle Mode launches today on all console versions of the game, although the price for more maps is steeper than some had expected.

It is, simply, a phenomenon: Minecraft has now sold more than 100m copies worldwide across PC, console and mobile platforms.

The game is owned in every country and territory on the planet - even Antarctica (it's probably David Attenborough) - and in 2016 more than 53,000 copies have been bought every day.

Creator Mojang released an infographic showcasing some statistics. In Europe, for example, the mobile version of Minecraft is most popular but only by the smallest of margins. The mobile version accounts for 36 per cent of sales whereas the console versions account for 35 per cent. The longer-serving PC version accounts for 29 per cent.

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Minecraft developer Mojang is cracking down on the sorts of creations people erect in its procedurally-generated sandbox. The gist is that people can still make whatever they want, unless it's specifically to promote an unrelated product. That's now against the user guidelines.

Minecraft's console versions are getting a new mode next month, and a new way for Microsoft to monetise the game.

Lego's top-selling Minecraft range will get a big new addition in June with the arrival of an enormous £169.99 set named The Village.

Mojang and 4J Studios are set to launch a huge new update to Minecraft's various console versions.

Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3/Vita and PS4 editions of the sandbox creation sim will get a raft of new features, animals, blocks and biomes.

The update was submitted to Microsoft and Sony for certification earlier this week and is due to go live shortly.

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UPDATE 17/11/15 10.45am: PEGI has quietly removed its listing for the unannounced Minecraft: Wii U Edition.

Sandbox phenomenon Minecraft will soon add a flying cape, allowing players to soar around their worlds.

Northern Ireland's government, in an attempt to simultaneously seem hip and educational, has recreated its region in Minecraft.

Microsoft reported its results for the fourth quarter of its 2015 financial year, and while the company made a gargantuan loss, Xbox and the division it sits in made a tidy profit.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia co-creator and star Rob McElhenney will be directing the Minecraft movie, Mojang has announced.

Mojang has announced Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition, which will launch in beta form alongside Microsoft's new operating system on 29th July.

It will be free to download if you already own Minecraft on PC, or $10 (about £6.40) if you don't.

This edition is separate to the existing PC build and will offer online and local multiplayer with anyone playing on Minecraft: Pocket Edition (that's the version available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone).

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All of Minecraft's console version will receive a new update tomorrow.

As detailed on developer Mojang's official blog, this new version version 1.17/TU25/CU14 will add new objects like stained glass, trapdoors, inverted daylight sensors, books and quills.

Other additions include new blocks such as oak, spruce, birch and "jungle wood".

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Minecraft is going to get a HoloLens edition.

Minecraft maker Mojang has launched three new skin packs for Xbox One to celebrate its third birthday on Microsoft's range of systems.

Minecraft now includes a range of default female avatar options on PlayStation 3, 4, Vita, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Turkey's Family and Social Policies Ministry is seeking a ban on Minecraft.

MineCon, the Minecraft convention, is set for a 4th-5th July showing at the ExCeL London Exhibition and Conference Centre, Mojang has announced.

Minecraft's Xbox One and Xbox 360 editions will be getting The Simpsons-based skins in an all new pack coming in late February.

4J Studios, developer of the console version of Minecraft, has issued a new update for the Xbox Edition of the game that adds horses to the game.

Mojang and its new owner Microsoft have launched Minecraft: Pocket Edition for Windows Phone devices.

The handheld version costs £4.99 in the UK.

Mojang first announced a Windows Phone version of its smash-hit sandbox game back in October - after Microsoft's $2.5bn purchase of both the game and studio.

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Beano comic star Dennis the Menace now has his own Minecraft mod.

Microsoft has released the first of several new Star Wars skin packs, which will only launch for Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

55 player skins are included in the Star Wars Classic Skin Pack DLC, including Luke, Leia, Han and Chewbacca.

Dozens of lesser known characters also make an appearance, from Greedo to Governer Tarkin via Bib Fortuna and Admiral Ackbar (but no Wedge?!).

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Warner Bros. is in talks with Night at the Museum director and producer Shawn Levy to helm its upcoming Minecraft movie, Deadline has reported.

Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition will finally be available to download from next Wednesday, 15th October, developer 4J Studios has announced.

That date applies to European Vita owners only, however. There's no word yet on when the game will be released in North America.

The Vita edition will be a Cross-Buy game for anyone who has already bought Minecraft on PlayStation 3. (The PS4 version is a separate entity, although you can upgrade to it from PS3/Vita at reduced cost.)

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Don't blink - Minecraft's new Doctor Who-themed pack is now available to download on Xbox 360, priced £1.99.

A new trailer for the DLC confirms that the pack is also coming to Xbox One, although the content is not yet live on the console's store.

Included in the download are skins for Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor, current companion Clara, plus previous Tardis team Amy, Rory and Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith.

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Minecraft: Xbox One Edition is getting a disc release on 18th November, where it will retail for $19.99 (about £13).

Now Xbox maker Microsoft owns the phenomenally successful block-placing sandbox Minecraft, what will happen to the game on PlayStation platforms?

Microsoft has bought Mojang and Minecraft in a deal worth an incredible $2.5bn, it's announced.

UPDATE 10/9/14 9.55am: Minecraft creator Markkus "Notch" Persson instigated talks with Microsoft to sell developer Mojang, a new source has claimed, and will leave the company for good when the deal is complete.

Waiting until midnight for your copy of Destiny to unlock? One intrepid fan is already exploring the game's Tower location - albeit in Minecraft.

Saddle up those pigs and get ready to punch some trees, Minecraft is now available to download on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Minecraft is now available to download on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, each of which offer an expanded draw distance compared to their last-gen counterparts.

UPDATE #2 4/9/14 10.20am: Minecraft's Xbox One edition has popped up on Microsoft's Xbox Games Store a day early, priced £114.95.

The listing, presumably a mistake, allows you to click "purchase" and select a payment option.

We're checking what's going on with Microsoft now, rather than breaking out the Eurogamer credit card to download it ourselves.

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Minecraft's Xbox 360 Edition will soon play host to a range of Doctor Who characters.

A visually-accurate version of Great Britain's geology has been recreated within Minecraft.

Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition may miss its August release window after Sony spotted technical issues during a test.

Developer 4J Studios relayed the bad news last night via Twitter, and told fans that another wait was now in store.

"Sony found some issues we have to fix in their final test of #MinecraftPS4 :(," 4J wrote. "We're fixing, but we need to go through the process again."

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Lego's new range of officially-licensed Minecraft sets have been spotted online.

Minecraft's console editions for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 have now sold more copies than the game's original PC and Mac version.

Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson has hit back at fans who branded developer Mojang "literally worse than EA" after the studio's recent update to its Minecraft end-user agreement.

Minecraft developer Mojang has revealed extensive details on the game's upcoming PlayStation 4, Vita and Xbox One editions, which will all be available to download this August.

Minecraft's PlayStation 4 and Xbox One editions will show off more of your world on screen than their PS3 and Xbox 360 counterparts.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Minecraft maker Markus "Notch" Persson talked about how he has a 10-year plan for his staff if he doesn't come up with an idea for a successor to the all-conquering Minecraft.

The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One editions of Minecraft won't feature the "infinite" world size of the game's PC version.

UPDATE 25/4/14 08.10am: Xbox boss Phil Spencer has now confirmed that game saves from Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition will be transferrable to the upcoming Xbox One version.

UPDATE 13.15PM: Mojang has now confirmed the physical version of Minecraft: PS3 Edition and teased the game's box art for PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4.

More than 1.5 million copies of the PS3 Edition have been downloaded so far, the EU PlayStation blog reports.

We've known that the game will come to both PS4 and PS Vita for some time, but the existence of box art suggests that both of these platforms will see the game as a physical release, too.

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Last night's North American episode of The Simpsons featured a new opening credits sequence inspired by Minecraft.

The Xbox 360 version of Minecraft has now sold an astonishing 12m copies.

Microsoft announced the new milestone today, along with word of another new mod pack for the game - the Candy Texture Pack, due to launch 18th April.

"I remember when we started talking about sales numbers that we would be super happy to sell 1m copies," Mojang's Daniel Kaplan said. "That would have put us on par with BF 1943 and Castle Crashers, which both are awesome games, so that was something to aim for.

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Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition's long-awaited new update launches today, developer Mojang has confirmed.

Minecraft maker Mojang raked in over 2 billion Swedish kronor (£197m) in 2013, the company has revealed.

A film version of Minecraft is in development at Warner Bros., a new report has revealed.

The next update for Minecraft's best-selling Xbox 360 version will include some major features from the game's PC build.

Minecraft's console developer 4J Studios posted on Twitter last night confirming the inclusion of NPC trading and anvils in the upcoming Title Update 14, all of which will presumably also filter through to the game's PlayStation 3 port.

It means that you'll soon be able to pester the game's NPC Villagers for items, in return for emeralds - a major block type which will also make its console debut.

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A talented Minecraft fan is re-creating the entire world of Oscar-winning Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away.

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition developer 4J Studios is working with Microsoft to allow players to transfer their Xbox 360 save data to the Xbox One edition of the popular block-based building game.

Minecraft: The Story of Mojang - the feature length documentary about the paradigm-shifting indie sandbox title - is now viewable, in its entirety, ad-free, on YouTube.

Minecraft console developer 4J Studios has said that it is prioritising work on the game's PlayStation 3 version before launching on any other platform.

UPDATE: Eurogamer's Ian Higton has been exploring the Ordnance Survey map for himself - watch his travels below as he takes in Stonehenge, London, Oxford and mispronounces everything around Eurogamer's home city of Brighton.

UPDATE: Yesterday's announcement of Minecraft for PlayStation 4 was not the whole story - Sony has now confirmed that all of its current platforms will see the mega-selling sandbox.

PlayStation 3 and Vita versions are also on the way, PlayStation rep Adam Boyes wrote on Twitter. Xbox 360 Edition developer 4J Studios will once again handle the game's console conversions.

Minecraft is currently only available for Android, iPhone, Mac, PC and Xbox 360. An Xbox One version is also on the way.

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Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition developer 4J Studios has at last confirmed the final list of changes in the game's next title update.

Title update 12 will add a number of recent features from Mojang's main PC version (but not horses - they're due in yet another future patch).

The biggest new addition is the Jungle biome - complete with wild ocelots to tame into Creeper-scaring cats. The biome also includes the jungle tree and ability to grow cocoa.

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Tickets to Minecon 2013, this year's biggest gathering of Minecraft fans, will go on sale tonight, developer Mojang has announced.

Putt-Putt, the entity behind the chain of miniature golf courses so prevalent that its name has practically become synonymous with the hobby, is threatening to sue Minecraft developer Mojang over user-generated levels that allegedly infringe upon the "Putt-Putt" name.

Traditional MMOs have gone out of fashion lately. It used to be that every gaming brand had exciting untapped MMO potential and every publisher wanted an MMO in its stable, but the gold rush inspired by World of Warcraft yielded little precious metal, and a lot of publishers got burned in the process - especially Electronic Arts with Star Wars: The Old Republic - while the term "MMO" has become taboo when discussing a new breed of games that includes The Division and Destiny, even though in many respects they are both massively multiplayer and online.

UPDATE: Microsoft studios boss Phil Spencer has suggested there is still hope for Minecraft save transfers on Xbox One.

Microsoft has just announced an Xbox One version of sandbox hit Minecraft. It's called Minecraft: Xbox One Edition.