‘Minecraft’ Game Is Finally Available For Windows Phone

Windows phone users can finally break and place blocks to create their own worlds and fight monsters on their mobile devices.

Microsoft has announced that their newly acquired game "Minecraft" is available on Windows phones Wednesday, according to GameSpot.

Window's "Minecraft" Pocket Edition has the same features as the iOS and Android pocket editions. It still includes Survival mode, Creative mode and multiplayer interaction when the game is connected to the internet. The game, however, is only playable if the device is running on Windows 8.1.

After purchasing Mojang, which is the studio that created the well-known "Minecraft" game, Microsoft has successfully added the popular sandbox game to their Windows phone. The company acquired Minecraft and Mojang in September, paying $2.5 billion. As part of the deal, three of Mojang's founders left the studio, one of which was the creator of "Minecraft," Markus "Notch" Persson.

"He's decided that he doesn't want the responsibility of owning a company of such global significance," Mojang's Owen Hill said. "Over the past few years he's made attempts to work on smaller projects, but the pressure of owning Minecraft became too much for him to handle. The only option was to sell Mojang."

On the other hand, Xbox chief Phil Spencer has announced their plans in making "Minecraft" available across different platforms.

"Minecraft adds diversity to our game portfolio and helps us reach new gamers across multiple platforms," Spencer said. "Gaming is the top activity across devices and we see great potential to continue to grow the Minecraft community and nurture the franchise. That is why we plan to continue to make Minecraft available across platforms - including iOS, Android and PlayStation, in addition to Xbox and PC."

The popularity of the game application on iOS and Android is speculated to have influenced Microsoft in buying the game. Adding "Minecraft" to Windows phone is expected to attract customers to buy the device. Microsoft is also planning to add additional features on the game to entice Android and iOS users to turn to Windows phone, according to The Verge.

With "Minecraft" being made available in Windows phones, the game is now essentially accessible on all major platforms. The game has already been played on Mac, Linux, Raspberry Pi, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, iOS, and Android.

"Minecraft" Pocket Edition can be downloaded from the Windows Store for $6.99, which is the same price as the iOS and Android pocket editions.