Minecraft has cemented its place as one of the few games to continue to grow in users a decade after its original release. While most video games have a shelf-life of less than two years, Mojang Studios seem to be capable of drawing gamers back in time and time again.
Launched in 2009 by Markus ‘Notch’ Persson, a game developer who had previously worked for King, Minecraft received lots of attention even before its official launch. The alpha and beta, available for PC users, lasted two years, which consisted of Mojang fine-tuning aspects of the game for official release.
At official launch, Notch handed over creative control to Jens Bergensten, a title he has kept since 2011. As millions flocked to this new game, Mojang continued to add new elements to the base experience, enabling more complex creations by its users.
In 2014, rumours of a potential Mojang IPO led to Microsoft acquiring the studio for $2.5 billion. At the time, Microsoft was not as large of a gaming publisher and it wasn’t clear what Microsoft’s plans were for the game. It has since went on to acquire several game studios, including Double Fine Production, Compulsion Games, Bethesda Studios and Obsidian Entertainment.
With Microsoft at the helm, Mojang continued to expand the Minecraft universe. It also launched several forks of Minecraft, such as a free Chinese edition in 2016 with NetEase and an education edition in the same year. Virtual reality versions of Minecraft are available on Oculus Rift, PlayStation and Microsoft HoloLens.
Between 2016 and 2017, Telltale Games launched Minecraft: Story Mode, which was the first attempt to stretch the IP beyond the sandbox experience. In 2020, Mojang would follow up Telltale with its own expansion, Minecraft Dungeons, a dungeon-crawler available on consoles and PC.
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buy android keyword installsWe have collected data and statistics on Minecraft, read on below to find out more.
Minecraft Overview
| Launch date | 17 May 2009 (PC alpha); 18 November 2011 (General release) |
| HQ | Stockholm, Sweden |
| People | Jonas Mårtensson (CEO), Vu Bui (COO), Jens Bergensten (CCO), Phil Spencer (Executive VP of Gaming, Microsoft) |
| Business type | Subsidiary |
| Owner | Microsoft, through Xbox Game Studios |
| Industry | Video games |
Minecraft Revenue
| Year | Revenue |
| 2012 | $211 million |
| 2013 | $326 million |
| 2014 | $165 million |
| 2015 | $350 million |
| 2016 | $420 million |
| 2017 | $370 million |
| 2018 | $500 million |
| 2019 | $375 million |
| 2020 | $415 million |
Sources: GamesBrief, PC Gamer, The Verge, VentureBeat
Note: Microsoft does not break down revenue in its Xbox Game Studios division. From 2015 to 2020, revenue is estimated based off Minecraft sales, which average $15 per sale, alongside an increase in other revenue (educational, new versions, IAP) from 2017 onwards.
Minecraft Mobile Revenue
| Year | Revenue |
| 2012 | $21 million |
| 2013 | $33 million |
| 2014 | $45 million |
| 2015 | $55 million |
| 2016 | $85 million |
| 2017 | $100 million |
| 2018 | $110 million |
Source: Sensor Tower
Minecraft Users
| Year | Monthly Active Users |
| 2016 | 40 million |
| 2017 | 55 million |
| 2018 | 75 million |
| 2019 | 91 million |
| 2020 | 131 million |
Sources: EuroGamer, PC Mag, Polygon, VG247
Note: This covers monthly active users.
Minecraft Sales
| Year | Total Sales |
| 2011 | 4 million |
| 2012 | 9 million |
| 2013 | 33 million |
| 2014 | 54 million |
| 2015 | 72 million |
| 2016 | 100 million |
| 2017 | 122 million |
| 2018 | 154 million |
| 2019 | 176 million |
| 2020 | 200 million |
Sources: EuroGamer, Forbes, IGN, Polygon, Statista, VentureBeat
Note: This is total cumulative sales.
Minecraft: Pocket Edition Sales
| Year | Total Sales |
| 2012 | 3 million |
| 2013 | 14 million |
| 2014 | 21 million |
| 2015 | 30 million |
| 2016 | 50 million |
| 2017 | 63 million |
| 2018 | 93 million |
Sources: EuroGamer, Mojang, US Gamer, VentureBeat
Note: This is total cumulative sales.
Minecraft Chinese Edition Downloads
| Year | Total Downloads |
| 2017 | 75 million |
| 2018 | 150 million |
| 2019 | 300 million |
| 2020 | 400 million |
Sources: Games Indsutry, KitGuru, PocketGamer
Minecraft other key stats
- Minecraft has generated approximately $3 billion over its lifetime in game sales alone (The Verge)
- Microsoft acquired Mojang Studios for $2.5 billion in 2014, roughly 20 times the earnings of the company (Fool)
- Minecraft’s mobile version is responsible for approximately 30 percent of all revenue generated (Sensor Tower)
- Minecraft has 131 million monthly active users (PC Gamer), higher than Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone
- Minecraft’s Chinese version, freely available in the country, has been downloaded over 400 million times (KitGuru)
- Minecraft: Pocket Edition is the most popular version of the game in North America, Asia and South America (US Gamer)
- YouTubers viewed Minecraft content 201 billion times in 2020 (Forbes)
- Minecraft Marketplace creators generated $1 million in revenue in two months (VentureBeat)
- Minecraft Education Edition has been downloaded over two million times (Fool) and 63 million pieces of content connected to the education platform have been downloaded (The Verge)
- The education edition generated $10 million in revenue in 2019 (Fool)
- Minecraft Earth hit 2.5 million downloads in its first 12 months (Pocket Gamer)
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