• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Minecraft 176 million copies sold, 20 million in 7 months, now best selling video game of all time.

Mattyp

Gold Member
Microsoft announced that it has sold 176 million copies of Minecraft, quite a big hop over the 156 million figure they revealed just seven months ago. Despite more buzz around games like Fortnite, Microsoft has kept the game fresh with things like the Dungeons online co-op, a free browser version, a forthcoming movie and now, an augmented reality version called Minecraft Earth. Microsoft added that it has passed 200 million registered users of the Microsoft China edition and completed 130 million Minecraft "Hour of Code" sessions.

When it starts to ratchet up the beta program for Earth, those figures could really take off. The new game looks incredibly promising, with even more immersive play than the current mobile AR champ, Pokémon Go, which was a runaway success when it launched in 2016. Microsoft plans to roll out Minecraft Earth around the world gradually, starting with a closed beta this summer.

Sauce Here

Wikipedia top sellers of all time.

Probably one of the smartest purchases in video game history. Every new generation wants to play with Lego, I don't see this being any different.
 
Last edited:

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
Posting in here out of respect, even though there's better games out there with far less sales, congrats Minecraft.
 

Gavin Stevens

Formerly 'o'dium'
Me and the wife loved our time with the game, so much. Had such a blast with it. It’s not takes about these days as much but I doubt we will ever get another game like it, not for a long time.
 
Minecraft is a disgusting crap game that just met success because of how tasteless, degenerate and gross the VG target is. The concept is dumb, like PUBG, but that was enough to sell.

That's why it's not worth it to invest in making great games, not even cinema has reached that bottom crust with Marvel movies.
 

CeeJay

Member
Minecraft is a disgusting crap game that just met success because of how tasteless, degenerate and gross the VG target is. The concept is dumb, like PUBG, but that was enough to sell.

That's why it's not worth it to invest in making great games, not even cinema has reached that bottom crust with Marvel movies.
I think you are in the minority there with that view, there are some pretty strong words you used to describe one of the least offensive games there is outside of Nintendo.
 
Micro$oft.

On a serious note, Minecraft is a hallmark of videogames, whether you like it or not. Just like Kojima, they're both iconic and will go down in videogame history.
 

The_Mike

I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
Microsoft still haven't earned the invested monet into it though, right? 4 billion is a lot of money
 

BlackTron

Member
Is it bad that I still never played Minecraft?

I was honestly terrified of what this game might do to me because I already have a huge Lego problem in my life, especially back when this was new.

My teenage sister did pretty much nothing but play it on a laptop for three years straight.
 

Wimbledon

Member
I still go back and play it, i would role play with my friends when were in college playing that game. lol

Really good times.
 

Mattyp

Gold Member
Microsoft still haven't earned the invested monet into it though, right? 4 billion is a lot of money

Would say they've earnt it back by now, go to any shop, anywhere in the world. Minecraft licenced merchandise is everywhere, and among the age groups it targets it's a massive seller.

If anything I think Microsoft is in a position to push xbox a lot more with this game, come out next gen with the cheaper console having a Minecraft variant and the game bundled day dot for 2020 Christmas season.
 

Bernkastel

Ask me about my fanboy energy!
Even when you sell your Xbox games, you get to keep your achievements.
If you sell your Xbox games to a friend, will he quote you everytime he plays them ?
If you sell your house, will the new owner put a board crediting you as the original owner ?
If you sell your car, will the new owner right your name in the licence plate ?
 
It's impressive that this game inspired an entire generation when there are still plenty of violent games like Call of Duty and Battlefield inadvertently marketed towards younger gamers with colorful decal-laden guns and le epic skull graphics and explosive setpieces that would make Michael Bay blush.

Personally, I only played Minecraft for a short while but I do respect the fact that it tried doing something different at the time of release. But I couldn't continue playing it because I didn't have the patience and imagination to create large castles or whatever else in its free play mode... and I got sick of the blocky art style.

I would probably go so far as to liken Minecraft to the Super Mario World of the newest generation of gamers in regards to its massive success and influence. I still prefer playing my single-player, story-driven, arcade gameplay, open world crime-drama games, along with some intriguing Japanese developed games though.

But it makes me wonder, 10 years from now, what will be the Super Mario World (or Minecraft) of newer generations?
 
Last edited:
Microsoft still haven't earned the invested monet into it though, right? 4 billion is a lot of money

Microsoft bought Mojang for $2 billion. It's safe to assume they've spent another $500 million developing the Minecraft platform. I think by late 2020, they'll recoup all that and be in the black going forward.
 
If you sell your Xbox games to a friend, will he quote you everytime he plays them ?
If I made a game and sold it to my friend, does that mean I didn’t make it?

If you sell your house, will the new owner put a board crediting you as the original owner ?
If I designed a house and sell it, do I stop being the architect? Even if they turn the garage into a rumpus room?

If you sell your car, will the new owner right your name in the licence plate ?
You seem to be confused here. Minecraft wasn't just notch’s property, it was his creation. He can sell the property, it doesn’t make him stop being it’s creator. You’d have to be a literal idiot to believe otherwise.
 
Some of the games on that list are wrong, unclear, or arguably count things that aren't sales as sales.

However Minecraft is big. Maybe a result of the current trend jumping culture, but as a business investment Microsoft sure wasn't wrong on that $2+ billion they spend on it. Same with PUBG. (granted they don't own PubG but they still made bank on it)
 

Catphish

Member
Minecraft is a disgusting crap game that just met success because of how tasteless, degenerate and gross the VG target is. The concept is dumb, like PUBG, but that was enough to sell.

That's why it's not worth it to invest in making great games, not even cinema has reached that bottom crust with Marvel movies.
For fucks sake 😄👎

Oh and where's the fucking graphics pack? And VR support? 😠
 
Last edited:

somerset

Member
Is Minecraft really a *game*? Is it- I think not. And I think the distinction is why Minecraft did so much better than any 'voxel' game before or since.

Minecraft is 'lego' on the PC (and other systems). A futuristic 21st Century 'lego'. And lego isn't a 'game', but a sandbox pastime or hobby that can be done alone or shared with others- either in realtime or by showing off one's creations to others.

When MS bought Minecraft for so much money, it was *not* buying a 'game'. It was literally buying the digital successor to lego- with everything that means.

Today the alt-left (and the hard of thinking) use the term "computer game" way too brainlessly. There is *no* legal definition for a novel- but do we call comics 'novels' or comic strips. I think there is an excellent argument to say "computer game" is the *equivalent* in meaning to "novel" - and that other coded 'entertainments' are not really the same thing at all. This does not mean 'lesser' but different.

Sadly we lack agreed terminology for the trivial rubbish on phones that most so-called 'gamers' (and almost every woman 'gamer') 'play'- but it outrageous when fake news outlets can lump such into gaming in general.

Minecraft is an ecosystem for the imagination. It is what lego themselves would have made if the corporation had had any forward thinking tech skills.

Reminds me of the dumb-dumbs who claim Intel to be the biggest makers of GPUs - this is the same as claiming that if Ford put little silver wings on the sides of their cars, then Ford would be the biggest aircraft manufacturer in the world.

Definitions *matter*. Minecraft is *not* a computer game any more than lego is a game, but you can play in highly advanced ways with both.
 

petran79

Banned
Wouldnt Minesweeper be considered the most successfull game? Its been with Windows since 95.
It has surpassed a billion copies for sure, maybe close to two.
 

Lanrutcon

Member
Wouldnt Minesweeper be considered the most successfull game? Its been with Windows since 95.
It has surpassed a billion copies for sure, maybe close to two.

Game. Has to be a game.

Minesweeper is a built-in sociopath test. If you ever played it instead of drawing random colored circles in Paint then you're probably a serial killer.
 
Is Minecraft really a *game*? Is it- I think not. And I think the distinction is why Minecraft did so much better than any 'voxel' game before or since.

Minecraft is 'lego' on the PC (and other systems). A futuristic 21st Century 'lego'. And lego isn't a 'game', but a sandbox pastime or hobby that can be done alone or shared with others- either in realtime or by showing off one's creations to others.

When MS bought Minecraft for so much money, it was *not* buying a 'game'. It was literally buying the digital successor to lego- with everything that means.

Today the alt-left (and the hard of thinking) use the term "computer game" way too brainlessly. There is *no* legal definition for a novel- but do we call comics 'novels' or comic strips. I think there is an excellent argument to say "computer game" is the *equivalent* in meaning to "novel" - and that other coded 'entertainments' are not really the same thing at all. This does not mean 'lesser' but different.

Sadly we lack agreed terminology for the trivial rubbish on phones that most so-called 'gamers' (and almost every woman 'gamer') 'play'- but it outrageous when fake news outlets can lump such into gaming in general.

Minecraft is an ecosystem for the imagination. It is what lego themselves would have made if the corporation had had any forward thinking tech skills.

Reminds me of the dumb-dumbs who claim Intel to be the biggest makers of GPUs - this is the same as claiming that if Ford put little silver wings on the sides of their cars, then Ford would be the biggest aircraft manufacturer in the world.

Definitions *matter*. Minecraft is *not* a computer game any more than lego is a game, but you can play in highly advanced ways with both.
Are you for real?

Minecraft is a game. Lego is a toy. Both are marketed towards children who I'm sure don't get this riled up over semantics.
 
Last edited:

Leonidas

Member
Well played MS for making Minecraft the best selling game of all time. 20 million in just the past 7 months alone is insane.

The list of games with 25 million units sold or more is quite interesting to me. What's scary is that Minecraft's only competition now is GTA V and Minecraft is selling at a faster rate.

exVKkdS.png


If they continue close to the current pace they will have sold 200 million in 2020. They reached 144 million in 2018.
 
Last edited:

molasar

Banned
Good for Microsoft. Although none of my children are allowed to waste their time and play it. This includes all multiplayer games and battle royale ones unless it is some 2D wrestling game and others in couch local mode.
 

BTHR Zero X

Member
Although none of my children are allowed to waste their time and play it. This includes all multiplayer games and battle royale ones unless it is some 2D wrestling game and others in couch local mode.
As a fellow parent this makes no sense too me. Minecraft can be a solo game for building and construction, or even an adventure. May I ask you reasoning as to this?
 

JLB

Banned
Well deserved. One of the best videogames on entire history. A game changer, on the league of the classics.
 

Frizzie

Banned
My little boy (6 1/2) has Minecraft on his Kindle Fire Kids edition. The things he comes up with blow my mind.

He was playing on a survival peaceful world the other day, gathering resources for a garden/farm he was making. Then I hear "dad look", so I do. He's got a pet sheep, dyed it red, crafted shears to get red wool from it, built it a pen complete with signs relaying its name and facts about it, crafted a lead which he then put on it and took it for a walk.

So yeah... Mind blown! Thankyou Minecraft :messenger_clapping:
 
Top Bottom