Minecraft Expands Android Device Support

Following a timed exclusivity period on Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play smartphone, Mojang's Minecraft: Pocket Edition will be released for a variety of Android devices this week. The updated version incorporates new touchscreen controls, as demonstrated in a video by Mojang's Daniel Kaplan. According to Kaplan, the game will be released on the Android market on Thursday, with an iOS version coming "eventually." The Xperia Play version of the game launched just over a month ago and has been installed between 5,000 and 10,000 times, according to its Android Market page. "I'm sure Minecraft will help drive sales of the Xperia Play," Mojang managing director Carl Manneh recently told Gamasutra. "It will of course limit the audience [for the game], but it will be a target group very much into gaming." The PC version of Minecraft has sold over 3 million copies as of August 5, despite still being in beta. In addition to the aforementioned iOS version, the game is also headed to the Xbox 360, with Kinect motion-sensing functionality.