After Pocket-lint's estimation that Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has been the biggest launch ever on Xbox Live, Microsoft has confirmed such by releasing a statement that it has, indeed, eclipsed Trials Evolution (the previous record holder) on day one sales. It hasn't actually released any figures, however.

There is more than one way to skin a cat though, as Mojang big cheese and Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson has revealed that - based on the game's dedicated leader board - it looks like the Xbox 360 version has sold more than 400,000 copies in its first day alone.

Posting on Twitter, Persson said: "The number of sales I got is based on leader board participation, so might be off.. But it seems it sold over 400k copies in 24h."

He also revealed that the game was "profitable in an hour".

Microsoft'a own Major Nelson also hinted at similar figures. "It’s official. Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has broken all previous Xbox Live Arcade digital sales records, selling more than any other title in the first 24 hours on Xbox Live Arcade," he posted on his blog.

"I just looked at the leader boards and there are over 400,000 people playing… so that will give you an idea at how well it is doing."

One developer who's not happy with Microsoft is Polytron, the studio behind the equally excellent Xbox Live game Fez. It believes that Mojang has been given preferential treatment over free updates.

"You're also getting free updates, which is something every other developer on the platform is told is simply not an option," it posted on Twitter to Notch.

However, it is not complaining about the release of figures, contrary to reports elsewhere. "Minecraft did not get preferencial treatment regarding sale stats. just for the free updates," it wrote. "Attention journalists: THIS IS NOT A SCANDAL."