Minecraft Creators Delay Their Next Game

Minecraft studio Mojang hoped to release their game Cobalt on October 30th. Unfortunately, that won't be happening.

In a blog post on their website, Mojang says that the game is now scheduled for a February 2016 launch on Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Steam. The reason? Yep, you guessed it: "polish."

We’ve been working on Cobalt for a long time and, though the game is feature complete, our current build is buggier than we’re comfortable with. We want every part of Cobalt – the campaign, challenges, and local and online multiplayer to live up to your expectations, no matter which platform you play it on. That’s going to require a bit more development time.

They added that they don't actually need an extra four months to fix all of the game's bugs. However, the planned Xbox One and Xbox 360 versions pushed back the launch a bit as well:

Releasing a game on console is an especially complicated business. There are release windows, and certification things, and all kinds of boxes that need to be ticked before games can be released into the wild.

Cobalt, published by Mojang and developed by Oxeye Games, is a 2D action game starring cyborgs. One to two players can shoot their way through the adventure together using a range of weapons and power-ups. The game also supports competitive multiplayer for up to eight combatants in several modes. Other major features include a survival mode, weapon upgrades and a level editor on PC and Mac.

If you're a PC or Mac owner, you can play the game right now. Mojang and Oxeye are selling the alpha version through the game's website. The alpha, which the developers say is now "remarkably dated," comes with a Steam key for the full version of the game. Furthermore, buying the alpha is about half as expensive as the full version.

Cobalt will be the third post-Minecraft game released by Mojang. The first, strategy game Scrolls, was released in December 2014. Mojang recently announced that they're no longer developing new content for the game and could shut down the servers next year. The second was Minecraft: Story Mode, a collaboration with Telltale Games. Story Mode's first episode is available now and will be followed in the coming months by four more.

Pete Haas

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.