Minecraft dev to publish its debut third party title

Cobalt, Minecraft developer Mojang's first foray into third party publishing, should launch this week, developer Oxeye Games has announced.

According to an interview with Edge, the side-scrolling PC action title will be available to download on Friday, if all goes to plan.

Like Minecraft, it will be an alpha release. Get in on the ground floor and you'll receive all subsequent updates for free, as well as having a say in the direction the final game takes.

"We're also looking at the roadmap: What is the minimum release we can get out in the first version?" explained Mojang managing director Carl Manneh.

"Then [we need] a plan to update the game to really make sure that people understand that this is the first step in many iterations to come."

There's no word yet on how much you'll be asked to pay, though the game's official site has more detail on what Oxeye has planned for the game.

As explained last week, you'll now be able to play all Mojang titles (Minecraft, Scrolls and Cobalt) from a single account, provided you opt in.

It sounds like the two parties have a particularly cosy publisher-developer relationship.

"It's not like we found them and don't know them, the whole team knows them well. [And] we think it's a great game," insisted Manneh.

"They're a great bunch of people and culture-wise it's a very good fit with Mojang. They like to work in the same way we do, and when we present ideas to each other we're very much in sync. It's very easy to work with them."