Minecraft Pocket Edition Receiving Future Updates

According to a blog post on Mojang’s official website, Minecraft: Pocket Edition will be receiving future game updates to expand the gameplay. This is great news, considering how simple and lackluster the mobile version of Minecraft is at first glance.

Daniel Kaplan, designer on the project, stated in the brief post what the initial plans were for the game, and exactly why the initial release is lacking in comparison to its desktop bretheren:

“We just wanted to make sure that the iOS version was on par with the Android version before continuing the work, since it is quite complicated to deal with different versions with different features.”

He went on to explain that since the game has now been successfully ported to the iOS platform, the goal is to now focus on implementing more features akin to the popular ‘Survival Mode’ from the desktop version. Kaplan made it clear that they will not be replicating all features and aspects of the full version of Minecraft, solely because some of those features just don’t translate well to the touch/mobile platform.

New features set to arrive in future updates include an item system (for picking up items and blocks), a new file system, a specialized crafting interface designed for iOS/Android devices, an inventory system, and even enemies and animals. The rendering code is also being optimized and adjusted to provide a smoother world generation experience.

While I was at first dissapointed with Pocket Edition, due to its incredibly limited play space and lack of materials, it’s comforting to see that Mojang isn’t just scooping up my $6 and running. From what this blog post entails, it seems apparent that they’re working to make Pocket Edition the best mobile version of Minecraft that they can, not just shoving the full game onto a phone, but actually designing it for the mobile environment.