Minecraft has long been described as a game that allows players to build worlds using LEGO-like bricks, with the boundaries of the game limited only by the imagination of gamers.

LEGO, however, is now looking to challenge Minecraft early next year in the video game industry, with the announcement of a release date for LEGO Worlds.

LEGO Worlds Release Details

The LEGO Group, publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and developer TT Games announced that LEGO Worlds will be released on Feb. 21, 2017.

The game was launched in June 2015 into the Early Access program on the PC gaming service Steam, allowing players to try out LEGO Worlds even while it was still in development and provide feedback to TT Games. After a little less than two years in that state, LEGO Worlds will finally see the light of day as a finished game.

In addition to the release date, the big news is that LEGO Worlds will not only launch on the PC, as it was also announced that the game will be coming to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

"LEGO Worlds expands our LEGO video game franchise with a new experience that embodies all the fun of physical LEGO brick building," said Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president David Haddad, adding that TT Games has been able to create a game that combines the unlimited creativity associated with the building blocks and the humor that has been a characteristic of previous LEGO games and movies.

LEGO Worlds vs. Minecraft

LEGO Worlds and Minecraft allow players to build whatever they can think of using virtual blocks, ranging from small tools to massive structures. In Minecraft, gamers encounter creatures such as zombies while playing, and similarly in LEGO Worlds, players will also come across monsters such as dragons and yetis.

There are certain significant differences between the two games though. For example, in Minecraft, players lay blocks down one piece at a time to create items and structures. Meanwhile, in LEGO Worlds, players will be given several tools that will allow them to build things faster and easier.

How well LEGO Worlds will fare against Minecraft remains to be seen, however. While LEGO video games have collectively sold more than 140 million copies in the past decade compared to the more than 70 million copies sold by Minecraft since 2009, this is the first time that a LEGO game would treat the virtual bricks like their real-life versions.

Will the massively popular brand of LEGO be enough for LEGO Worlds to overtake Minecraft? Or does Minecraft already have an unrelenting grip on the virtual block building scene? We will find out once LEGO Worlds launches in February next year.

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