With over 70 million copies sold worldwide over computer, console and mobile devices, Minecraft is one of the best selling games in history. Despite the rise of the “next gen” consoles XBOX One and PS4, Minecraft on XBOX 360 remains one of the most popular games on the console. As such, there have been two updates in the last 3 months for the XBOX 360 version and another one planned soon.

Update 27, which occurred on July 24, featured the addition of arcadia and dark oak crafting materials and fixed several problems including one that effected gameplay by making it more difficult to deal damage to wolves. Despite these updates, XBOX 360 users are constantly given “second hand” updates that began on the PC. Why is this?

The most obvious answer is that Minecraft began as a PC game and is therefore more important to Mojang than the XBOX 360 version. This may be true to some extent, because 20 million of the 70 million sales have been from PC versions of the game. 13 million sales, however, have come from XBOX 360 versions. This means that the PC and XBOX 360 combine to account for nearly 1/3 of all Minecraft sales, giving Mojang has no excuse for ignoring XBOX 360 customers because of user volume.

Nor can Mojang say that it is more difficult to program for the PC than the XBOX 360. Many newer Windows games are based on the .net coding system, which is the same system XBOX 360 uses. Although Minecraft is programmed in Java, the .net framework is much easier to use and should allow for fast implementation for the XBOX 360 version.

Even though XBOX One sales have been good, the price point of the system is still high, making it difficult to afford an XBOX One with all the accessories; not to mention the fact that if the user wants to play Minecraft on the XBOX One, they need to buy another copy of the game-even if they already own the XBOX 360 version. This means that there are literally millions of people still playing the XBOX 360, so Mojang should still concentrate on serving these customers.

PC ports have always been slow to get to consoles, and often experience fewer updates. That said, Minecraft isn’t just a game; it’s a phenomenon. Minecraft has been out since 2011 on the PC and 2013 on the XBOX 360, which in “gamer years” is positively ancient. The XBOX 360 Minecraft forum is testament to the fact millions are still playing the console versions of this game. However, gamers attentions are somewhat short, and if the XBOX 360 version of Minecraft doesn’t begin to get more and better updates, Mojang risks losing these gamers.

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition Lack of Updates