Minecraft convention hitting Las Vegas Nov. 18-19

Indie hit Minecraft was created just two years ago by Markus Persson AKA "Notch." In that time, it has grown wildly. The game--which is still in beta--has passed 10 million registered users, is spreading to the Xbox 360 later this year, and will be part of the Smithsonian's Art of Games exhibit. Now, the game is expanding further with a dedicated convention this November.

PC Gamer today is reporting that a Minecraft convention called MineCon will be held at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas from November 18-19. It will coincide with the full launch of Minecraft from Notch's studio, Mojang. The convention's registration site will open next week with tickets and a full event schedule available.

"For me, MineCon is about celebrating the full release of Minecraft," Notch told PC Gamer. "I'm really looking forward to getting up on stage and pushing the button to upload the final build."

Additionally, Notch made it clear that Minecraft's launch won't signal the end of Mojang's work on the title.

"We'll just go back home and keep working on Minecraft directly after MineCon," he said. "But it does represent a huge milestone where the game finally leaves beta, something we'd never be able to do without our fans, so it feels natural to celebrate it with them."

MineCon will join other specialty game conventions happening in the coming months, including QuakeCon 2011 (August 4-7) Call of Duty XP (September 2-3), and BlizzCon 2011 (October 21-22). For more on Minecraft, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.