Minecraft Now Sold at Retailers as a Prepaid Card
Here's a good way to give Minecraft as a gift without having to create a Mojang account.
Just in time for the holiday season, Mojang is bringing its hit first-person block-building game for Windows PC, Minecraft, to three major North American retailers: Walmart, Target and Best Buy.
Instead of offering a boxed, disc-based version of the hit game, customers can purchase a $26.95 prepaid Minecraft card containing a software download code – the perfect stocking stuffer for your favorite PC gamer. A Mojang account isn't required to purchase the card, but it is required to redeem the code.
The new prepaid card for the PC version should address an audience that's reluctant to make purchases online. It's also handy for parents, friends and other relatives who don't want to create an account just to purchase the game as a gift. Still, Mojang continues to provide online options for purchasing the game for yourself, or as a gift code – both of which require a Mojang account.
Just recently Minecraft's creator, Markus "Notch" Persson, revealed on Twitter that he was approached by Microsoft to certify Minecraft for Windows 8. Persson said that he refused. "Got an email from Microsoft, wanting to help 'certify' Minecraft for Win 8," Persson tweeted. "I told them to stop trying to ruin the PC as an open platform."
He went on to admit on Twitter that he'd rather have Minecraft not run on Windows 8 at all than to play along with the Redmond company. "Maybe we can convince a few people not to switch to win 8 that way," he added.
Meanwhile, 4J Studios said via Twitter that Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has passed 4 million in sales. Costing 1600 Microsoft points per copy, it landed on Xbox Live Arcade back on May 9, and burned through a million sales globally within its first five days on Microsoft's network. So far the game is averaging around 27,000 sales per day, and could hit 5 million units sold before the end of the year.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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echondo Sorry, but for $26.95 it is so not worth it. The Xbox version is only 1600, that's $20 and they are already seeing updates that are making it equal to the PC version.Reply
I know we could have pre-purchased it for much less but come on, it's Minecraft, hardly worth $25.
Now maybe if we can get a Linux launcher... -
Novulux echondoSorry, but for $26.95 it is so not worth it. The Xbox version is only 1600, that's $20 and they are already seeing updates that are making it equal to the PC version.I know we could have pre-purchased it for much less but come on, it's Minecraft, hardly worth $25.Now maybe if we can get a Linux launcher...Reply
Mods and custom maps make the PC version many times better.
Also there is a version for Linux available on the website, or are you referring to something else? -
bryonhowley Minecraft is hardly worth $5.00 let alone $26.95! And after the dev's Windows 8 comments I would rather warez the game than every pay for. But then again the game is not even worth that so there would be no need for that ether.Reply -
memadmax "I told them to stop trying to ruin the PC as an open platform."Reply
muhahahahahahaha
lol when win 8 flops around like a fish out of water, they'll patch it with a start bar or release win 9 shortly after.... -
tomfreak I'll wait them make HD texture and hexagon blocks first. Square blocks dont build round objects well.Reply -
azz156 lol Markus is such a hypocrite, he has not problems selling minecraft on closed platforms like osx, ios, xbox live etc but when microsoft decides to add a app store to their os its apparently evil and will destroy everything.Reply
Message sent from my Win 8 Notebook -
Kami3k echondoSorry, but for $26.95 it is so not worth it. The Xbox version is only 1600, that's $20 and they are already seeing updates that are making it equal to the PC version.I know we could have pre-purchased it for much less but come on, it's Minecraft, hardly worth $25.Now maybe if we can get a Linux launcher...Reply
The Xbox version is still many updates behind the PC version. -
Kami3k azz156lol Markus is such a hypocrite, he has not problems selling minecraft on closed platforms like osx, ios, xbox live etc but when microsoft decides to add a app store to their os its apparently evil and will destroy everything.Message sent from my Win 8 NotebookReply
Awww, did a creeper blow up your dirt house? -
warmon6 bryonhowleyMinecraft is hardly worth $5.00 let alone $26.95! And after the dev's Windows 8 comments I would rather warez the game than every pay for. But then again the game is not even worth that so there would be no need for that ether.Reply
I'd say it's worth it. 1 time pay, you can create just about anything, make your own story lines, if you can program you can make your own mod's to do different things such as making machines dig for you or making a whole new dimension such as space/moon.
To sum it up. If you like lego's, this game is like a virtual survival lego game. If you dont like such, then most likely you wont like minecraft.
echondoSorry, but for $26.95 it is so not worth it. The Xbox version is only 1600, that's $20 and they are already seeing updates that are making it equal to the PC version.I know we could have pre-purchased it for much less but come on, it's Minecraft, hardly worth $25.Now maybe if we can get a Linux launcher...
??? there still several updates behind on the xbox to make it equal to the PC. No hunger bar = no ability to run. No creative mode. Not even a way to include mods as of yet.
As for playing on linux, Guess you didn't click the "Show all platforms" or else you would of seen "Minecraft for Linux / Other" :P