Now here's an interesting twist: Ubisoft indicated on Tuesday that it has endorsed a special map and texture pack for Mojang's hit indie PC game, Minecraft. The mod was inspired by the Far Cry 3 universe, and will be available on Windows 8 Day (October 26) as a free download on the Far Cry website.
"This pack allows users to explore and survive the Minecraft experience through the warped lens of Far Cry 3, with modifications to all aspects of the original game, including environments, weapons and tools," Ubisoft said. "Discover key Far Cry 3 locations and characters, including Vaas, Jason and Citra, all completely redesigned in Minecraft style."
The map was created by Minecraft enthusiast Michael Lambert (Sacr3, creator of Newcraft City), and artists Axel Janssen and Yohann Delcourt contributed the textures. The new Minecraft mod will even include over 50 Easter Eggs, hidden throughout the Islands.
Last week brought reports of Crafting Azeroth, a massive unofficial project that aims to bring the entire landscape of World of Warcraft into Minecraft. The first beta has been released, weighing 2.17 GB as a zip file and 24 GB unzipped. Minecraft modder Rumsey said the map was created using custom software that can convert Blizzard's MMORPG into blocks.
"I've marked this as a beta release, meaning that additional updates / fixes may come in the future," Rumsey writes. "As much as is possible, I will try to release these changes in the form of a patch that will only modify the blocks that need to be updated. This means you can start working on the map right away, without worrying about your changes being wiped out by a later update."
Could Minecraft be used as a marketing tool? As Ubisoft has discovered, there are plenty of opportunities to create custom Minecraft content to promote a product similar to the way publishers use Sony's PlayStation Home to establish explorable, branded areas. Given Minecraft's insane popularity, publishers could reach the casual PC gamer who otherwise may not have given their premium game a second glance.
As for Ubisoft's Far Cry 3, the shooter is scheduled to release for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC on November 29, 2012 across EMEA and on December 4, 2012 in North America.
