The name may conjure up images of a fantastical RTS game featuring miners instead of orcs and elves, but Minecraft isn't exactly like that. It is instead a sandbox building game that lets players mine caves for ore and other resources so they can be crafted into.. well, pretty much whatever you want.

The game is still in beta but it has already passed sales numbers that some final releases can only aspire to reach. So far, 1.3 million copies of Minecraft has been sold by Swedish studio Mojang, with the total registered accounts on the game's official site numbering up to more than five million.

Mojang is now aiming to further increase Minecraft's success by releasing a version for Apple's iPhone and iPad devices. This was confirmed to video game news site Gamasutra by Minecraft creator and Mojang founder Markus "Notch" Persson. Persson also confirmed to gaming news blog Kotaku that a Minecraft port for Android devices is in the works.

The iOS ports are all being handled in-house by Mojang. A host of Minecfraft-related apps including walkthroughs and guides are already on the App Store, but this will be the first official appearance of Minecraft on Apple's iOS devices. Mojang had been in duscussions to let third-party developers create the ports but the company ultimately decided to do it by themselves. The iOS ports are being developed by new hire Aron Neiminen.

Gamasutra reports that not all of the updates released for the game's PC version will make it to the mobile versions, only those that "make sense" in the context of handheld touch screen gaming. They are currently slated to be released on the App Store later this year.

Minecraft is currently in its beta version 1.3. Mojang plans to release the full completed version later this year.

Via [Gamasutra]

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