Minecraft to Enter Beta Phase on December 20th

Sometimes it is difficult to remember that Minecraft, a game that has more than 2 million registered users and has sold more than 600,000 digital copies (I know this for a fact because those numbers are from mid-November and I just bought my copy yesterday, so…) is actually still in alpha.

Especially when you just had an office Minecraft party last night.

Well, the word has come down from on high (or from game creator Markus “Notch” Persson) that Minecraft will be shifted into beta in no less than nine days.  This change will come with a refocusing of the developer’s goals, new features, and a difference in pricing.

In his blog post, Notch says that the beta will focus more on “polish and content” than the alpha.  Upcoming features will include:

Proper modding support with a stable API… some kind of non-intrusive narrative to the game to help drive the game experience early on, and to provide some kind of late game goal. There will be a bigger focus on testing and stability as well, with more time between updates.

The price of the game will be raised from €9.95 to €14.95, however, users who have purchased the alpha version of the game will still receive all updates for free.  Says Notch: “A promise is a promise.”

Essentially, if you still haven’t gotten in the Minecraft bandwagon

cave

cabin

opulent desert castle

bandwagon, now is the time.  Otherwise, you’ll be out a further €5 or so.  And who knows how much that is in dollars?

(pic via Penny Arcade, story via GameInformer.)