Minecraft Xbox One Release Date and Price Confirmed

The Xbox One version of Minecraft launches on Friday, September 5 and will cost $20 (£16) to download, Microsoft has announced.

A significant discount is available to those who own the Xbox 360 version of the game already, with an upgrade to the Xbox One edition on offer for $5 (£3).

"To qualify for the $5 upgrade offer, players must own the retail disc or digital version of Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition and connect to Xbox Live with their account," Microsoft explained.

Meanwhile, all DLC purchased on the Xbox 360 version can be accessed for free on Xbox One, and all saved content can be carried over too.

Microsoft adds that Minecraft: Xbox One Edition allows players to generate worlds as much as 36 times larger than the Xbox 360 version. Offline multiplayer can support up to four players.

However, the Minecraft PS4 release date remains unclear. [Update: The game's release is set for Thursday, September 4] In August, the studio porting the game to PlayStation 4, 4J Studios, said the build had failed Sony's certification test.

Minecraft was a breakthrough hit for its developer Markus Persson. Total downloads of the game now exceed 54 million.

A PS Vita version of the sandbox world-builder is also in development.