Summary
- Minecraft might be everywhere now, but that wasn’t always the case.
- Back in the early 2010s, a console release hadn’t happened yet and we had to sit through a lot of games “inspired” by Minecraft.
- One of the most popular ones, though, was CastleMiner Z, which is actually getting its own dedicated remaster this year.
Castleminer Z, one of the many Minecraft knockoffs that came to Xbox Live back in the early 2010s, is getting a remaster in 2025 and it’s making me oddly nostalgic.
As one of the biggest games of all time, Minecraft is available on pretty much every platform there is, even with Xbox owning the rights. That wasn’t always the case, though, as there was a dark time when Minecraft was locked to PCs and console players had to settle for whatever clone rocked up on the Xbox Live Arcade.
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Before Minecraft finally got its official Xbox 360 Edition in 2012, Xbox Live was filled with ripoffs that tried to capitalise on the long wait for a console release. Most of these, like Cubeworld, Craft World, and UberBlox, didn’t have much to offer beyond that, but there were a few that stood out, such as the gun-toting CastleMiner Z.
CastleMiner Z Is Getting A Remaster In 2025
If you were around during the good old days of waiting patiently to be able to properly play Minecraft, then you no doubt remember CastleMiner Z, as it was one of the most popular knockoffs and an evolution of a more basic clone called CastleMiner. Surprisingly, it had some unique elements of its own, like the heavier focus on combat and the inclusion of guns.
Nothing quite screams Xbox 360 Marketplace quite like CastleMiner Z, and I don’t think anyone really thought we’d see more of it outside of its Steam port. That isn’t the case, though, as a new trailer has been shared that confirms the game is getting a full remaster of its own at some point in 2025, with a Kickstarter project also going live in the near future that also refers to the remaster as a “reboot”.
From what we’ve seen in the trailer, CastleMiner Z Remastered appears to just be a more impressive looking version of the original Xbox 360 game, as nothing is mentioned about significant changes to gameplay. The trailer description doesn’t share much about the project either, beyond confirming that it’s been “years in the making” and that it’s aiming to release at some point in 2025.
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