Minecraft for Xbox Live Arcade will be getting its first free update in just a couple weeks, Roger Carpenter, lead producer of the fastest-selling game to ever hit the platform, has informed XBLA Fans. Digital crafters can look forward to what has been dubbed an interim update fixing a number of bugs when it arrives. Carpenter confirmed that dummy glitches, sleeping, clay issues and more will be remedied when it goes live.

A more robust update (1.7.3) will then follow at an undetermined date in July. Designed as the first in a series of post-release downloads to bring the port up to speed with the PC version, 1.7.3 will not include any additional Achievements due to it being free. (Those players who feel the itch to bump up their Gamerscore need not necessarily worry: traditional Xbox Live DLC with extra Achievements is being considered for sometime down the line.)



[springboard type=”video” id=”496935″ player=”xbla001″ width=”640″ height=”400″ ] Unfortunately the size of the maps (1024 by 1024 blocks) is not set to be bumped up yet. The reason, says Carpenter, is that the game’s creators want to make sure they have sufficient room to expand the game as it grows. Any PC bugs that were not fixed until later updates will not be taken care of with 1.7.3, but, as mentioned, the plan is to eventually update Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition enough so that it matches up with the PC version.

According to Carpenter, Minecraft creator Marcuss “Notch” Persson desires to have the Xbox 360 release get a life of its own, and so Microsoft and 4J Studios are looking into possibly delivering exclusive content to 360 players. And although the parties involved aren’t ready to make any promises at this time, they are also looking into the possibility of bringing a certain PC staple to the console version: mods. Locked doors and chests were mentioned as two examples.

To hear the entirety of what Carpenter had to say about Minecraft for Xbox Live Arcade, clear two hours from your schedule and head over to XBLA Fans’ Twitch TV page.