Those that love The Simpsons, the animated family who has graced TV's Fox network for almost 25 years, and those that love Minecraft, the immensely popular block building game for PCs and consoles, should love the new Simpsons pack that will arrive on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One versions of Minecraft in Late February.
According to Xbox Wire, the downloadable pack will include the five basic family members (Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, in case you don't know) as well as 19 of Springfield most beloved characters. Most sources don't have a full list of what these 19 characters will be, but popular opinion would suggest Moe, Apu, and all the other fan-favorite side-characters that have had entire episodes devoted to them.
Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, has stated that "we have an active community of more than 17 million die-hard Minecrafters on Xbox Live enjoying the wide range of downloadable content on Xbox, and they have been clamoring for us to bring Simpsons characters to the game".
This deal is quite similar to a Minecraft combination with the popular BBC series Doctor Who, which had characters from the sci-fi series brought into the game last October, according to The Verge.
It really shouldn't be any surprise that The Simpsons are coming to Minecraft, because Minecraft has already come to The Simpsons. Some of you might recall an episode in April 2014 that featured the animated family in their "couch gag" where the family took on a square and blocky appearance in a bit titled "Simcraft".
It certainly isn't the first time that The Simpsons has tied itself to a block building franchise. Last May 2014, The Simpsons aired an entire episode that was partly done with Lego bricks. This was done as a way of promoting The Simpsons Lego sets.
Many have viewed The Simpsons tie-in as something that is a result of when Microsoft bought Minecraft creator Mojang for $2.5 billion last year. Wired believes that The Simpsons upgrade is part of Microsoft's plans for Mojang's massive game, and since this Simpsons upgrade is only available on Xbox platforms, it looks like a special treat currently only for Xbox owners. It is possible on the PC version of Minecraft to download and build custom skins, but not possible on the Xbox Live version. According to Cinema Blend, those that have the PC or Mac version of Minecraft can already get The Simpsons in their game by downloading free mods from the Minecraft community that allow players to go within a virtual and blocky Springfield.
One cannot help but wonder what franchises could be put on Minecraft, for if Doctor Who and The Simpsons can go there, why not Star Wars or Star Trek?
The Simpsons downloadable content pack is planned to release in late February for $1.99 USD on Xbox One and Xbox 360. So far, there doesn't seem to be any news of it heading to other platforms like the PlayStation.
