Mojang has officially announced on its website that its popular world-building game "Minecraft" will finally be released on the Nintendo Wii U. Along with the announcement, the company also stated that the game will release much sooner than expected: it is expected to be on the Nintendo eShop by Dec. 17.

According to the post, the game will cost $29.99 and will be available for download on the Nintendo eShop. In celebration of the Wii U port, the game will come packaged in with six add-on content packs and a new special "Festive mash-up" designed specifically for the Christmas holidays.

These special packs are as follows (courtesy of Kotaku):

• Battle & Beasts Skin Pack
• Battle & Beasts 2 Skin Pack
• Natural Texture Pack
• City Texture Pack
• Fantasy Texture Pack
• Festive Mash-up Pack

The post also confirms that updates will be regularly released and they will remain free. DLC packs will be tagged with a retail price; however, Mojang reiterates that none of the DLC are necessary to enjoy the game.

"As a quick reminder: all DLC packs are optional. You can have significant amounts of fun playing Minecraft without spending extra cash," reads the official note from Mojang.

Perhaps the biggest bit of news is that the Wii U port will allow for off-TV play. This will allow Wii U players to play "Minecraft Wii U" entirely on their gamepad. This will give players the freedom to continue playing even if someone decides to use the TV and watch something else or if the player needs to leave the TV momentarily.

As of the moment the retail appears to only be available for the digital store and there is no news of a physical copy. According to a report from IGN the retail price of $29.99 also seems a bit too high, but given how the Wii U lacks a substantial library of good games, this may be money well spent to keep players glued to their Wii U.