14 DAY TRIAL // Minecraft developer Mojang, together with console specialist 4J Studios, is considering the addition of customizable servers to the Minecraft console versions, although at the moment things are still unclear and won't be nailed down until after the game appears on PS4 and Xbox One.
Minecraft became a huge hit even during its alpha stage on the PC platform, with tens of millions of people flocking to the open world survival and crafting experience both on the PC and on a variety of other devices, from mobile smartphones and tablets, to consoles like the PS3 or Xbox 360, thanks to 4J Studios, which ported the game to the home platforms.
Currently, 4J and Mojang are working hard on the PS4, Xbox One, and PS Vita versions of Minecraft, but this doesn't mean that the two studios aren't thinking of other things for after its release.
Among the many suggestions flooding the two teams is a custom server service, similar to what's being done on the PC platform.
According to 4J's Daniel Kaplan, the studio is looking into the matter, but right now there are still quite a few unknown aspects.
"We are looking into different solutions, however we don't know when it will work. A lot of people would enjoy that and we have got a lot of questions about it. It would be similar to what we're doing on the PC," he told TotalXbox.
Mojang's Owen Hill has explained that, right now on PC, players can either rent out custom servers and host thousands of people, or just set up a local server on their own computer and host around 10 people. Both are quite popular, so it makes sense to bring the custom server system to more platforms.
"I don't know if you know about it already, but if you look up Minecraft Realms it's like a dedicated server. You can host a Minecraft server for say, 1000 people, and pay a third party, which is totally great, but if you want to on PC you can host a Realm - you can just click 'host realm,' name it and invite people.
"That's our service but it's small service, like ten people. If it did come along on Xbox it would be a similar experience."
As of yet, however, neither Mojang nor 4J are ready to talk about the system's appearance on consoles, especially since Minecraft is just now getting ready to debut on the PS4 or the Xbox One, arguably the platforms that could support local servers.
