The end is near. The wait for Minecraft to leave its beta status and become a full fledged game is about to finally pay off. Hours ago, Notch let the world know that the game he and Mojang have been working on for so long has finally gone gold. At the end of this week, fans of the phenomenon known as Minecraft will have a final product. No more beta status.

About a month ago the developers at Mojang stopped the official Minecraft beta updates and continued bug testing with pre-release builds instead. These pre-releases did little to cure the hunger pangs that many fans have been suffering in anticipation for MineCon and the final release of the game.

Up until this point, Minecraft has been selling exponentially and sold its 4 millionth copy earlier this month. It makes you wonder how many more millions the game will sell after beta. Notch also posted a picture of the game in its goldmaster form. No it's not on gold disks but on Sandisk usb thumb drives. Check the pic below.

What does the future hold for Minecraft? We already know that a version for the Xbox 360 is already in the works and will be playable during MineCon. Minecraft: Pocket Edition is out now for Android with iOS patiently waiting an announcement for their devices.

The 3DS would also make an awesome platform to play Minecraft on. The combination of touch controls and 3D display will make for a unique mining experience.

Clearly it's an exciting time for Notch and the gang at Mojang and with MineCon just a few days away they probably have a lot on their plate. Millions across the globe – including us here at Game Rant – are very excited to get our hands on the final product.

Are you excited for the final release of Minecraft? Are you attending MineCon this weekend?

MineCon will be held November 18-19 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Minecraft 1.0 will launch on November 18th.

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Source: Notch