The Simpsons family is officially coming to Minecraft on Xbox platforms next month, where it will join the ranks of other popular franchises like Star Wars and Doctor Who in getting the block treatment.
Xbox gamers will be able to download player skins for Marge, Homer, Maggie, Lisa and Bart, as well as 19 skins of characters from Springfield Elementary School, for $1.99 starting in late February.
"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," Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox, said in the Xbox Wire blog post announcing the DLC. "We are thrilled to partner with Twentieth Century Fox and Gracie Films to bring THE SIMPSONS to life on Minecraft Xbox 360 and Xbox One editions. I can't wait to see what the community creates."
Of course, this is Minecraft we are talking about, the game where players have the power to build nearly anything their imagination can cook up. There have been a number of fan-made Simpsons skins and projects over the years available for players, no DLC or money required. Heck, even the show itself picked up on the craze when they made this Minecraft-inspired couch gag.
With Microsoft's acquisition of Mojang and Minecraft last year for $2.5 billion, it's easy to see why Microsoft is attempting to sell licensed DLC to the game's massive Xbox user base. At least $1.99 for 24 skins is a reasonable price.
