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Minecraft for Windows Phone Confirmed, First Screenshot Revealed

The very first port of the game for WP is currently undergoing internal testing at Mojang, developer said

Oct 10, 2014 23:00 GMT  ·  By
Minecraft already installed on Windows Phone
   Minecraft already installed on Windows Phone

Microsoft recently purchased Minecraft creator Mojang for $2.5 billion (1.9 billion euro), so it was pretty much obviously that bringing the game on Redmond's very own platforms was only a matter of time.

Now Mojang developers confirmed that Minecraft for Windows Phone is already in the works and even posted a screenshot showing that the game is indeed undergoing internal testing at the company.

Mojang developer Tommasso Checchi confirmed in a series of tweets that an early build of Minecraft for Windows Phone has been completed, but provided no details as to when users could get their hands on the game.

He however suggested that the existing port of the game is in its very early development stages, so it could take a while until it hits the market in beta form.

“Microsoft hasn't forced us to launch a Windows Phone version”

While Checchi hasn't revealed too many details about the game, he did mention that bringing Minecraft on Windows Phone wasn't a decision made following Microsoft's acquisition of Mojang. In fact, development was started a long time ago, he said, despite rumors that the company wasn't planning a version for Microsoft's mobile platforms.

“Here's another reason we've been pretty busy while working on 0.10,” he said, while also attaching a screenshot showing the Minecraft Pocket Edition icon on a Windows Phone.

“The port is in the first stages though. It's kind of slow now and needs optimization, so in full Mojang style the release date is 'soon.' And nobody forced/threatened us if you're wondering! Actually, we started before the whole Microsoft thing :),” he added.

Confirmed by Microsoft as well

This isn't the first time we're hearing that Minecraft is coming on Windows Phone, as some other Microsoft officials have already discussed this possibility In the last few months.

Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft’s Xbox team, confirmed earlier this year in a very short post that Minecraft would arrive on both Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1, but at that time, no other details were available.

A company engineer also confirmed in late 2013 that bringing Minecraft on modern Windows was indeed an ongoing project, but due to a number of issues development was going slower than expected.

“The problem is that Windows Phone uses a different API for rendering (DirectX vs OpenGL), and the Minecraft code has bad separation between the game logic and rendering. We are not saying ‘no’, but it’s currently not being worked on, as it’s a big project to fix,” he said.

Now Minecraft for Windows Phone is a sure thing, so it shouldn't take more than a few months until we get the chance to play the game on our Lumia smartphones.