LONDON: Britain is to welcome the world's first Minecraft roller-coaster and attractions with the opening of "Minecraft World" in 2027, the studio behind the video game announced on Saturday.
"Merlin Entertainments and Mojang Studios have today announced Minecraft World, the world's first fully immersive Minecraft theme park land", the Sweden-based video game developer and UK theme park company said.
The £50-million ($66.6 million) project will be part of the Chessington World of Adventures Resort, a theme park complex southwest of London.
It will be inspired by the "biomes, mobs and items" of the beloved Minecraft universe, according to a press release, and will feature a coaster, "block built playscapes" and themed retail and dining.
The attraction builds on the popularity of one of the best-selling video games of all time in which players build a three-dimensional world.
Minecraft was first made available on computers in 2011 and has since been released on mobile phones and several gaming consoles.
"A Minecraft Movie" proved a box office hit last year, becoming the most successful film adaptation from a video game in North America and generating memes and TikTok trends that went viral worldwide.
UK cinemas had to restrict audiences from partaking in a viral "chicken jockey" trend arising from the film.
"Minecraft World represents a meaningful milestone in our ongoing journey to expand the Minecraft universe", said Torfi Frans Ólafsson, senior creative director for entertainment at Minecraft.
Universal is also to build its first European theme park in Britain, with its first year planned for 2031.
“We’re thrilled to have partnered with Merlin Entertainments to realise a place where you can literally be in the Minecraft Overworld and have an adventure of your own with your family and friends.
“The team at Merlin Entertainments and Mojang have worked hard to craft an experience that feels immersive, authentic and welcoming; and we can’t wait for our community to experience it”.
"We're absolutely thrilled to be bringing Minecraft's creativity, bold adventures and ridiculous fun to life at a theme park for the first time at Chessington World of Adventures," Merlin Entertainments' Angela Jobson said.
"Minecraft World will allow friends and families to play, explore and craft together on a truly epic scale.
"Working closely together with Mojang Studios, we are meticulously creating an authentic world that the global community of Minecraft fans will want to immerse themselves in and experience the game in a whole new way".
Ahead of announcing the Minecraft World news during the Minecraft LIVE presentation on Saturday, Microsoft Gaming’s head of Mojang Studios and franchise development Kayleen Walters and Merlin Entertainments’ senior vice president of global brand marketing Angela Jobson broke down their new partnership in an interview with Variety.
First off, the execs clarified that Minecraft World isn’t going to be a theme-park adaptation of the blockbusters hit “A Minecraft Movie” — or its upcoming 2027 sequel — brought into real life. It’s going to be based on how you play the game “Minecraft”.
Jobson says Mojang and Merlin Entertainments see the need for Minecraft World to balance between “commitment to delivering real emotion and making it really believable” and “this sense of epicness”.
“There are some features in that land that I’m still not quite sure how we’re even doing it from an engineering perspective”, Jobson said. “There’s a giant floating island in the middle of it and that we held on to from one of our initial visuals. And sometimes you go really big with your creative vision, but somehow we put our arms around it. I’ll never know. But we all believe that we really need to have this feature in it. It’s going to look quite spectacular”. — Agencies
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