Hear that? That's the sound of money

Miners rejoice! Minecraft's arrival on the PlayStation 4 and Vita has been given a slightly less vague release date. Mojang has confirmed that the dig-'em-up will be tunnelling onto the two platforms in August, so you've only got a couple of months to wait before you're able to slaughter harmless sheep on the go.

However, the best part of this announcement is that there'll be plenty of ways to save money if you've already purchased a digital copy of Minecraft on the PlayStation 3. For starters, those of you who already have the game on the PS3 will be able to nab the Vita edition for free, while saves from the handheld can be transferred to your PS3, and vice versa. This essentially means that on everything but the PS4, Minecraft now supports cross-buy, cross-play, and cross-save.

That said, you'll still be able to transfer your adventure to Sony's newest console if you wish, but you won't be able to send data from the PS4 to the game's other versions for technical reasons. Nor will you be able to play with others who are making use of the game on PS3 or Vita. Thankfully, if you own the title on the PS3, you'll be able to purchase the next-gen version for just $4.99, but you'll only have a year to take advantage of this deal. Finally, if you've grabbed a retail copy of the release on PS3, Mojang is currently working with Sony in order to try and enable all of the same benefits that the digital version offers. Already sharpening you pickaxe? Come build a home with us in the comments section below.

[source mojang.com, via gematsu.com]