Hi everyone!

Team Minecraft at Mojang, 4J Studios and Microsoft have been working on some cool free content for Minecraft: Console Edition, and we’re really excited to introduce mini games to you today. Of course, coming up with improvised rules and new ways to play with friends is already a popular activity among Minecraft: Console Edition players – and long may it continue! But with our new mini games, we’ll be helping you quickly and easily jump into competitions with tailor-made rulesets, so you can have fun straight away without having to fuss around with manual count-downs, laboriously prep loot chests or keep score. Sound good? Great – you won’t have to wait very long for this to come out, so get your enchanted fishing poles ready. The first mini game we’ll be rolling out, called Battle, will be here in June.

Battle allows you to set up a competitive multiplayer fight for survival, where speed, strategy- and sometimes just pure luck- will make you the winner. Players in Battle matches use randomly generated resources found in chests placed in specially designed PVP maps and combat one another in a free for all death match until the final victor is determined. The fun’s not all over after you are defeated though, as fallen players can spectate the combat among remaining players in the match by freely flying around each arena as a bat. Battle matches can be played with up to four players in split-screen and up to 8 players online via Xbox Live. Or, you can find other community members to join your game via an in-game matchmaking system.

In June, Battle will be rolled out for free to all owners of Minecraft on Xbox 360, Xbox One and other consoles via a game update, and the free update will include three maps for you to try out. If you like Battle and want more, we’ll be supporting it with additional Map Pack add-ons periodically after release for $2.99 USD or local equivalent.

See you in the arena!