Mon, Dec 13, 2010 | 17:40 GMT
Minecraft enters beta, gets price hike, on December 20
Minecraft developer Marcus “Notch” Persson has confirmed that the open-ended indie smash will enter beta on December 20, meaning both a price rise and the addition of narrative elements.
The game is currently in alpha at a cost of €10. “When the game enters beta, the price will rise to €14.95,” Notch said today.
And what does “beta” mean?
“With beta comes a larger focus on polish and content, and we’ll start early on with adding proper modding support with a stable API, and we’d love all input we can get on this from the modders out there,” the developer added.
“We’ll also add 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.”
Notch also said today that a promise that all future updates to the game will be free is to be removed when it enters beta. Only those that buy Minecraft before December 20 will be entitled to all upcoming content for nothing: “A promise is a promise,” he said.
“Free updates”? Sort of
Gift codes are now available for the title, and will include the free updates associated with alpha account if bought before December 20.
The game’s next update is coming next week.
Minecraft sees the player doing pretty much whatever they like in a rocky, grassy, snowy world. You can punch trees for sticks. More than 1 million people have paid to do so up to now.
18 comments
#1
AHA-Lambda
13/12/10, 6:21 pm
well i’m going to buy it now then =s
#2
Erthazus
13/12/10, 6:40 pm
Game is absolutely fantastic.
But Notch, he is an asshole charging money for a concept when game is full of bugs, MOD problems and broken AI.
Great game, but it’s more of a concept for now.
#3
Syrok
13/12/10, 6:44 pm
@2: Oh, no! How dare he to charge money for something he worked on for probably many hundreds of hours.
Relax, dude. He is not forcing you to buy it and there is also a free version.
#4
Old MacDonald
13/12/10, 6:48 pm
2: You’ve pre-ordered the game. You haven’t bought the alpha-version, that’s just a bonus. You bought the full version. If you think there are too many bugs, then don’t play it until the full version shows up.
#5
DSB
13/12/10, 7:21 pm
@2 If you don’t like bugs, then maybe you shouldn’t play games that are still in alpha.
Whenever there’s a beta or alpha test attached to a game, that pretty much means that you aren’t there to enjoy it, as much as you are there to challenge it and preferably break it so Mojang can fix it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle
If I had a nickle for every time I heard people bitch about unfinished builds in alpha and beta tests.
#6
NeoSquall
13/12/10, 7:59 pm
love that Shinku ♥
#7
Erthazus
13/12/10, 8:06 pm
@5 I bought for a comcept game, i wish it could do much more than just idea.
Because of the recent patch i used to delete my previous saves because of new addons like Bio stuff and etc.
Now i stopped playing it and waiting for the final game.
#8
Michael O’Connor
13/12/10, 8:24 pm
@2 Well, next time you invent a game that tens of thousand of people start playing practically overnight, almost completely out of the blue, one of the most refreshing ideas in years, and do it for free, then you can bitch.
Otherwise, kindly shut up. You have no idea what you’re talking about.
#9
stretch215
13/12/10, 9:07 pm
“….kindly shut up. You have no idea what you’re talking about” – as usual
.
#10
DSB
13/12/10, 11:38 pm
@7 You preordered a game, chose to play the alpha, and found bugs.
Basically you got exactly what you paid for. Notch isn’t an asshole simply because you don’t realize what you’re doing.
#11
Erthazus
14/12/10, 12:16 am
“Well, next time you invent a game that tens of thousand of people start playing practically overnight, almost completely out of the blue, one of the most refreshing ideas in years, and do it for free, then you can bitch.”
i’m one of these guys and bought it almost at launch, i’m just pissed about tons of bugs and the problem with patches.
It’s great as i said it here 100 times before
But we all know that you are incapable of reading posts so you don’t even have a clue about my frustrations with the game
@stretch215, as usual you have nothing clever to say. Get out.
@DSB, i was a little bit harsh on him. Yeah what you said it’s true i agree, i just wish he could fix these annoying bugs a little bit faster.
#12
Michael O’Connor
14/12/10, 12:53 am
@11 Bugs in a game that’s in *alpha*? Surely you jest?!
So yeah, you’re still wrong. The only one incapable of understanding things here is you.
“@DSB, i was a little bit harsh on him. Yeah what you said it’s true i agree, i just wish he could fix these annoying bugs a little bit faster.”
I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but…
QQ moar.
You expect miracles. Grow up, and stop acting like you’re entitled to everything you want. Newsflash: You’re not.
#13
hjyu38
14/12/10, 1:33 am
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#14
stretch215
14/12/10, 1:53 am
To respond to one of your horribly written, clueless posts with something “clever” would be dramatically overestimating your intelligence. Nobody here likes you, nobody. You, sir should “get out”. And take a few English classes if you insist on posting here.
#15
Kalain
14/12/10, 2:08 am
@11
Its in alpha. There are tonnes of bugs in alpha testing. If you knew about development cycles you would understand this.
A piece of software isn’t generally considered to be ready for release until the revision number hits 1.00. Minecraft hasn’t even gotten to .30 yet.
Stop complaining about a game which is still being developed. Sheesh!
#16
Old MacDonald
14/12/10, 8:31 am
11: You didn’t buy it at launch, because it hasn’t been launched yet. As I said, you’ve just pre-ordered it. The alpha is simply a fantastic bonus, not what you actually paid for.
#17
Blerk
14/12/10, 9:15 am
This is my son’s absolute favourite game of all time. So much so that I’ve not actually gotten to have a proper go on it yet.
#18
Michael Hoss
14/12/10, 9:33 am
Don’t let him know what Overgrowth ist… otherwise he might get a clue of what an alpha can be. This way it’s much better. At least we have something to laugh.