Minecraft: Story Mode | Cropped cover art

Minecraft: Story Mode | Title sequence

Telltale Games announced through a press release that came out yesterday that Minecraft: Story Mode – Episode 1 would be releasing on Wii U this week, meaning that its North American release date is this Thursday, January 21. The listing for the episode is also live on Nintendo’s official website. The single episode will cost $4.99 USD, and buyers will have the option to get the season pass to receive the other four episodes when they release on Wii U in the future. The season pass will cost $19.99 USD.

According to Telltale Games’ press release, the Wii U version will have unique features, including off-TV play and touch controls. The full text of the press release is as follows:


‘Minecraft: Story Mode – A Telltale Games Series’ Arriving on Nintendo’s Wii U Console This Week

Hit Adventure Series Set in the Minecraft Universe Marks Telltale’s Debut on Wii U in partnership with Mojang

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., and STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Jan. 18th, 2016 – Leading and award-winning developer and publisher of digital entertainment Telltale Games, and world-renowned game developer Mojang, today announced that Minecraft: Story Mode – A Telltale Games Series will be coming to Nintento’s Wii U console onJanuary 21st with the first episode,  ‘The Order of the Stone,’ available in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U in North America and Europe for $4.99 or equivalent. Telltale will also be bringing additional episodes to the console in the coming weeks, with a  Season Pass option for $19.99 that will allow access to episodes 2 through 5 as they become available for download.

The game will feature off-TV play and mirroring, so players can continue the story on the Wii U GamePad controller, as well as seamlessly integrated touch-control options that allow players to use the joysticks and buttons or simply tap and guide the story directly on the screen at any time.

“Telltale Games is synonymous with quality gaming and compelling content,” said Steve Singer, VP of Publisher & Developer Relations at Nintendo of America Inc. “We are thrilled that Nintendo fans will have the opportunity to experience this first-hand with the debut of ‘Minecraft: Story Mode’ on Wii U.”

“Working with Nintendo, we’re tremendously excited to be bringing our unique style of storytelling to Wii U for the first time, and we couldn’t be happier to be kicking things off with a series like ‘Minecraft: Story Mode’ that allows players of all ages to craft their own adventure across the Minecraft universe,” said Kevin Bruner, CEO and Co-Founder of Telltale Games.

In Minecraft: Story Mode, playing as either a male or female hero named ‘Jesse,’ you’ll embark on a perilous adventure across the Overworld, through the Nether, to the End, and beyond. You and your friends revere the legendary Order of the Stone: Warrior, Redstone Engineer, Griefer, and Architect; slayers of the Ender Dragon. While at EnderCon in hopes of meeting Gabriel the Warrior, Jesse’s friends discover that something is wrong… something dreadful. Terror is unleashed, and you must set out on a quest to find The Order of the Stone if you are to save your world from oblivion.

The season features an all-star cast, including  Patton Oswalt as male Jesse, Catherine Taber as female Jesse,  Brian Posehn, Ashley Johnson, Scott Porter, Martha Plimpton, Dave Fennoy, Corey Feldman, Billy West, John Hodgman, and  Paul Reubens.

‘Minecraft: Story Mode – A Telltale Games Series – Episode One: The Order of the Stone’ is rated ‘E10+’ (Everyone 10+) for Fantasy Violence and Mild Language by the ESRB. The series is published by Telltale Games in partnership with Mojang.

For more information on Telltale Games, visit the official websiteFacebook, and follow @TelltaleGames on Twitter.

For more information on Mojang, visit  the official website, follow @Mojang and @Minecraft on Twitter, and like Minecraft on Facebook.

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About Mojang

Mojang is a Microsoft owned game studio based in Stockholm, Sweden. We’re responsible for the relatively popular video game, Minecraft. More recently, we released Scrolls; it’s nothing like Minecraft, but also fun to play. We’re also publishing Cobalt, an upcoming game from Oxeye Game Studio; it’ll include lots of robots performing slow-mo combat rolls.

About Nintendo

The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii U™ and Wii™ home consoles, and Nintendo 3DS™ and Nintendo DS™ families of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 4.3 billion video games and more than 686 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™, Nintendo GameCube™ and Wii systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at http://www.nintendo.com.

About Telltale, Inc.

Telltale is a leading and award-winning independent developer and publisher of games for every major interactive platform from home consoles and PC to mobile and tablet devices, and is the pioneer of the episodic delivery of digital gaming content. By successfully developing games as an episodic series and frequently releasing in the format of a game season, they create longer consumer engagement than traditional games for each release. Founded in 2004 by games industry veterans with decades of experience, Telltale has quickly become an industry leader with numerous honors and awards from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, BAFTA, SXSW, the IMGA, and more, as well as being named Studio of the Year across multiple years. Telltale’s reputation for quality has been established across more than two dozen different product releases over the years with recognition and acclaim from publications like IGN, The New York Times, and Variety, including over 100 “Game of the Year” awards from publications like USA Today, Yahoo! Games, Wired, Spike TV VGAs, E!, Official Xbox Magazine, The Telegraph, Metacritic, and more.  Telltale is a fully licensed third party publisher on consoles from Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, and also publishes games on the PC, Mac, iOS, and Android-based platforms. For more information visit  www.telltalegames.com.

Chris Melchin
Chris is a computer science student who has been gaming ever since he knew what to do with a Super Nintendo controller. He's a fighting game player, with a focus on BlazBlue and Under Night In-Birth games. His favourite games include Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Persona 5, and Little Busters. He started watching anime in high school, and his favourite series is Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. He also writes Vocaloid music for his personal YouTube channel, and has a (slight) obsession with Megurine Luka.