2011 is quickly becoming the year of the indie developer. While there are strong AAA titles due out this year, it's the smaller titles that are really making a splash. One of the most noteworthy of these indie titles is Minecraft, which became an over-night success, wowing gamers with its innovative gameplay. Soon though, gamers will be able to take their mining addiction on the go.

While Minecraft calls the PC and Mac its home, it will soon be making its way over to mobile devices. According to the developers, players will first see the release of an Android version of Minecraft, which will be releasing on Sony's Xperia Play before any other device.

The game will be tailor-made to make use of the device's unique slide-out Playstation buttons. With this early exclusivity, it won't be unreasonable to expect very strong sales of the device, as this will mark the first time Minecraft has been released on a platform other than a computer.

On top of its release on the Xperia Play, Mojang have also announced that they will be developing Minecraft for iOS devices and other Android phones. These versions of the game will be made specifically for their devices in order to account for their different designs and different ways in which games are controlled.

It's definitely refreshing to see a developer that is devoted to their project and willing to work on optimizing the game for different devices rather than rushing it out. This is not surprising though, as the company has proved with their PC and Mac version of Mincraft that they are devoted to constantly expanding the game, recently announcing the features of the 1.6 update which is due out this week.

While the issue of how Minecraft will control on a mobile device seems to be at the top of Mojang's list of things to solve, one thing that remains to be seen is the inclusion of mods and texture packs. Both of these are very big parts of the original Minecraft, allowing gamers to completely alter the fabric of the game world like in the recent acid trip shader mod.

Whether these will make an appearance on the mobile incarnations of the game is yet to be seen, but it would definitely help in expanding the game and providing even more freedom and opportunity for creativity.

Minecraft for Android is due out later this year, on the Xperia Play before all other devices.

What would you like to see included in a mobile version of Minecraft? Are you at all worried about how it will control on a mobile device?

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Source: Gamasutra