Recent survey by Curse points to a huge success for June 28 Xbox 360 Minecraft game.
In a survey on Curse’s MinecraftForum.net, the official forums for Mojang’s indie mega-success Minecraft, respondents overwhelmingly said they will be purchasing Minecraft Xbox edition when it launches on June 28. More than 20,500 members of the Curse community answered the survey; 68 percent plan to buy the Xbox 360 version. Of the 84 percent who already own a console, 90 percent plan to purchase the Xbox 360 edition.
Minecraft has already seen success launching on a new platform. The Pocket Edition launched on November 17, 2011 and sold millions of copies. “As of March 2, 2012 Minecraft: Pocket Edition has passed the one million paid downloads milestone on Android platforms,” developer Mojang announced. Apple iOS sales have not yet been released, but Minecraft: Pocket Edition is currently #26 on the paid apps chart. Twenty-two percent of survey respondents already play on mobile devices such as tablets and mobile phones showing their desire to play the game whenever and however they choose regardless of platform.
According to the survey, 42 percent of the respondents who plan to buy the Xbox version are driven by the passion they feel for the game. Minecraft fans are so devoted that they don’t mind spending the 1,600 Microsoft points ($20) for the console version even though they already own the game on PC.
Those gamers that don’t consider themselves passionate Minecraft players also want to give the game a try. Twenty-one percent of respondents feel curious about the new edition and want to experience the game on console, another 22 percent are eager to try the new features available in the Xbox edition, like the two players split screen, new crafting interface, and physical interaction console gamers experience by playing together in the same place.
Just about 32 percent of the respondents, who currently play Minecraft on a PC or Mac, are not planning to invest in Minecraft Xbox Edition. Thirty percent of those respondents don’t own an Xbox while another 30 percent feel more comfortable playing games on PC or Mac.
Devoted PC Minecraft players and their willingness to embrace console gamming might be a perfect solution for companies like Microsoft. The Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft recently reported a 16 percent decrease for 2012’s March quarter. However, the company pointed out that they’ve seen an increase in revenue from other sectors, such as Xbox Live digital downloads. Certainly millions of sales of Minecraft on Xbox will help.
