Another week, another sign that people love indie game's sandbox sensation. Joystiq reports that over five million copies of Minecraft Pocket Edition have been sold. This covers both the iOS and Android version.
Furthermore, when combined with sales figures for both Xbox Live Arcade and original PC/Mac client, the total number sold is 17.5 million "at least."
Perhaps what makes the portable version's success so noteworthy is how it's missing a great number of key features from the computer and console versions. In the very early days, one could not even make anything, which didn't make a lot of sense, given how that was the most popular pastime in the other iterations (that and how crafting is in the title).
But that didn't stop early adopters from jumping on board nonetheless, and that key feature was eventually added. But there's still plenty of work to be done. Next on the list for Pocket Edition is online multiplayer, which is another reason behind its big brother's success. At the moment, only co-op is only possible via local WiFi, and not via the internet.