4J Studios has been hard at work getting the PS4, Xbox One and new PS Vita versions of Minecraft ready to ship by the end of the month. Unfortunately, it looks like a delay is going to push the release past the expected August launch window for PS4 and possibly PS Vita owners.
The delay was announced on 4J Studios' Twitter feed, citing some issues with the game that caused it to fail Sony's certification process. They're already at work fixing the problems, but it means Minecraft will have to be resubmitted and go through the certification process all over again. Even if everything goes smoothly, that's a delay of a few weeks at minimum.
The next-gen editions of Minecraft will carry all features from the current console versions of the game along with some extra souped-up bonuses. Owners of the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions will even be able to upgrade to the new release for a small fee, provided they do so within the first year after the game's release.
Below are some of the planned changes for Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition. You know, when it actually comes out:
Significantly larger worlds with a greater draw distance. Saves will transfer from PS3 to PS4. Saves will not transfer from the new version back to the old. Many of the DLC skins and texture packs will transfer over. Licensing deals are preventing some of the packs from transferring. No cross platform play between PS3 and PS4. Price set at $19.99.Current edition owners can upgrade for $4.99 anytime during the first 12 months. Mojang is looking into enabling upgrades from the Blu-ray disc version.