New Minecraft World to open in UK theme park

This is an exciting development

Merlin Entertainments, which runs theme parks like Alton Towers, will launch the attraction either at an existing park or as a new city centre tourist venue.

Minecraft, first developed in 2011, is the greatest-selling video game of all time.

According to Merlin, guests will be able to immerse themselves in the physical Minecraft world with "digitally enabled real-life experiences and the creation of touchpoints that will allow guests to unlock exclusive in-game content to continue their gaming journey."

There are also plans to expand into Minecraft hotel rooms, gift shop merchandise and food inspired by the game.

Merlin already owns several child-focused city-centre attractions including things like The London Dungeons, The Shrek Experience, LEGOLAND Discovery Centres and Cadbury's World.

They recently introduced themed-attractions to their existing sites such as the Jumanji World at Chessington World of Adventures and the Hey Duggee Big Adventure Badge Play Area at Alton Towers.

The CBeebies Land hotel at Alton Towers has themed Mr Tumble, Bluey and Bing bedrooms while Chessington's Safari Hotel has Gruffalo, Jumanji and Room on the Broom bedrooms.

The chief executive of Merlin Entertainments, Scott O'Neil, said: "This is a significant milestone for Merlin, which reinforces our commitment to reaching new audiences through bold and captivating concepts, and directly supports our ambitions for growth.

"Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time, and this world-first will see fans experience its thrill and creativity in real life, at theme parks and city-centre attractions in leading tourist destinations.

"Bringing Minecraft to life is going to be one of the greatest joys."