Minecraft Publishing Deal

After successfully making the jump from PC beta release to fully fledged mobile and downloadable title, Minecraft looks to be making its next great transformation: paper. While plenty of Minecraft fans have already recreated their favorite characters and species through a wide variety of source materials, developer Mojang has officially inked a deal to turn the Minecraft property into a collection of books.

The deal is with company Egmont Publishing and is reportedly for territories outside of the U.S. Along with book publishing, the Egmont deal also includes magazines, but as the deal is fairly fresh there's no word on how exactly Egmont plans to leverage the property.

Unfortunately, though, the lack of US distribution will mean a lot of Minecraft fans will be unable to reap the benefits of the deal. If Egmont Publishing does turn a sizeable profit with Minecraft books and magazines, though, it stands to reason that a domestic publisher might acquire the rights.

Speaking with Tech Crunch, a spokesperson for Egmont proclaimed her enthusiasm over the company's recent deal. Furthermore, she suggests that the company is looking at Minecraft as a kids' property, which leads us to believe whatever books or magazines that are published will be geared towards that demographic.

“We are working closely with Mojang and with Minecraft enthusiasts to create a range of products that will deliver extra depth and breadth of content to engage and inspire fans and to enhance the experience of playing Minecraft. Minecraft excites and inspires millions of kids around the world and their appetite for content is obvious from the huge success of the online tutorials posted by passionate fans.”

Egmont also acquired the publishing rights (non-U.S. again) to Rovio's Angry Birds property. Clearly the company is looking to leverage some of this and last year's breakout successes through books and magazines, but what exactly they intend to do with them is not so clear. Both Angry Birds and Minecraft are more unconventional forms of gaming — Minecraft with its creation tools and Angry Birds with its fleeting mobile experience — but both have become wildly successful thanks to their general appeal.

We'll keep you posted on when and where you can pick up the Minecraft and Angry Birds books.

What do you think of Minecraft being adapted into a book for kids? Is the property popular enough to warrant a publishing deal?

Source: Tech Crunch