The Beanos Dennis Gnasher and Walter Join Minecraft

The Beano's Dennis, Gnasher and Walter join Minecraft By Emily Thomas Newsbeat reporter

Minecraft players need to watch out for "softy" Walter and his stinky pants.

You can now add Walter, Dennis, the Menace, and Gnasher from The Beano to the PC version of the game.

Players can create an entire sausage for Gnasher and make use of all of Dennis Gnasher's best tricks such as catapults and stink bombs.

It's part of the Beano's bigger plans to expand into digital media and its model has emerged from a partnership between the show and Frima Studios, a Canadian multiplatform game developer.

Mark Cotton, who is the head of digital transformation at Beano, told Newsbeat that Minecraft is "their biggest passion and most cherished love"

Mark states that the game is an extension of the comic and an attempt at making The Beano "a more holistic experience" for children.

"Roughly 32,000 comics are sold every week of the Beano which is an extremely healthy amount," he says.

It's still a lot lower than the two million copies sold at the height of the magazines. LETRASTRADUCIDAS

Mark says, "We are very conscious that our kids today are passionate about technology."

"We must transform The Beano into a 360 brand where Dennis and Gnasher is everywhere that kids are, instead of expecting that they will come to us.

"So we're currently working on a variety of initiatives in the next three to six months."

Some of these initiatives include puzzle apps as well as an interactive comic and an "action 3D game for kids".

The Beano's publisher DC Thompson has already extended the brand's reach to a television show, a photo-sharing application and YouTube channel.

Grand Theft Auto?

The comic's been in existence since 1938 and has plenty of adult fans. Also, could the Beano characters be featured in any adult-oriented games? Dennis the Menace in Grand Theft Auto perhaps?

"No. That's not something we'd focus on right now," says Mark.

"We are focusing on the 7-11-year-old digital product. Today, digital is all about engaging with children and understanding their interests.

And to do that they've been consulting the group of 10 seven to 11-year-old Beano and Minecraft fans throughout the development process.

Minnie the Minx

"We mostly asked children"If you were to put Beano into Minecraft, what do you think you would see?

"This was the first step to begin to imagine what they wanted. Their imaginations are able to go beyond what we can do right now.

"But they wanted to play pranks. They wanted Walter, Gnasher and Dennis. That's what they got.

"We'll continue to communicate with them. We'd like to extend this and to build Beanotown and let children be creative.

"Minecraft is so popular as it gives children the ability to make decisions. We can't force the children to do something and they'd be resistant.

Are there any other characters that could be allowed in?

"We certainly want to extend it," says Mark.

"Minnie the Minx is the obvious character and the one the kids have been asking about. So that's what I'd probably consider next."