The PC/Mac version of Mojang’s sandbox game Minecraft has now sold 22 million copies, according to the sales ticker on the title’s official website. In the last 24 hours, almost 14,500 copies of the hugely popular game were sold. The game passed 22 million over the recent holiday weekend, according to IGN.
PC was Minecraft’s first platform, but the game has since spread to PlayStation and Xbox consoles, as well as mobile devices. That is to say, sales of Minecraft on PC/Mac represent just a portion of the game’s overall success. The game is regularly a top-performer on consoles, while App Annie’s charts show that the iOS and Android versions of Minecraft are also at the top for their respective platforms.
Just today, Microsoft announced that Minecraft is the highest-grossing paid game in the Windows 10 store. It’s held the No. 1 spot since the game launched there in July 2015. Microsoft also said nearly 1 million existing Minecraft players made use of the offer to get the Windows 10 version free.
This time, they weren’t really explictly teaching me anything about “Minecraft,” but I learned something anyway: “Minecraft” is a lot more than a video game. It’s a cultural touchstone; a thing that so many kids have in common that it just becomes a part of their lives.
This Christmas, we were joined by the kids’ cousins, who live a few hours down the road, meaning that they only see each other a handful of times per year. “Minecraft” gave them a common language. They just had to pull out their iPads, and they were off and playing.
Oh, sure, they play more action-oriented games like “N.O.V.A. 3,” a first-person shooter with robots in the “Titanfall” mold. Or they have this car racing game that I can never seem to remember the title of.
But they always come back to “Minecraft,” where they work together to build things, explore caves, and cause the ocassional explosion, forest fire, or massive volcanic eruption. Even though they were attached to their screens, they were still managing to spend quality time with each other.
(Reddit) A working Game Boy made entirely from “Minecraft” bricks.
And because they were able to visit each other’s “Minecraft” worlds, they were able to show off the things they had built, the villages and cave systems they had discovered, and the armor and weapons they had forged. They experimented and tried building new things.
Looking back, it’s probably a little healthier than all the hours that my cousins and I sunk into games like “Mortal Kombat Trilogy” and “GoldenEye 007” at family gatherings.
Then there’s the other thing I learned: One of the kids found and used an unauthorized app that lets them cheat at Minecraft, getting all the items and supplies they could ever want in the game’s more challenging Survival Mode. In a game that’s supposed to be about building, it’s a letdown that kids would want to short circuit the process. But also totally expected.
Ultimately, though, I find it really heartening that kids have settled on something that’s ultimately constructive as the defining video game of a generation. They could be shooting each other or running each other over, but they’re choosing to build instead.
Brandon Relph, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, spends a few hours each night on his business – and now employs 23 people across 13 countries
A tech entrepreneur has built up a computer game business employing more than 20 people and made £10,000 at the tender age 15.
Brandon Relph, who started his business last year, employs 23 people across 13 countries who help him build whatever his clients want in the mega-popular game Minecraft.
Brandon, who started his business goCreative with a German teenager called Florian, said: “I was first introduced to Minecraft when I was about 10 or 11.
Entrepreneur: Brandon Relph has already made his first £10,000
“The game cost me £10. That was the best £10 I have ever spent.
“My aim now is to make £10,000 by my 16th birthday and I am already there with that one.”
Plan: The boy combines his business with school and a busy social life
The teen began coding at the age of ten and since the age of 15 has spent a few hours each night working on his business, while still finding time for his homework.
Brandon, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, and Florian are currently reinvesting their profits with a hope to expand further.
Brandon added: “We both live with our parents and we don’t really need to take much of an income from the business.”
Dream: The young man wants to become a spy
Businesses pay goCreative to advertises their products or services within Minecraft.
For instance, a film production company may want to recreate a scene from their film within the game.
Ambitious Brandon is aiming for A* grades in his GCSEs and hopes to study computer sciences at either Oxford or Cambridge so that he can fulfil his dream of being a spy.
If you’ve done all that you can do in Rise of the Tomb Raider, you may want to take a look at this DLC that just dropped today. It’s called “Endurance Mode,” and essentially adopts the core Minecraft gametype (yep, that game isn’t just about building things) — scavenge and craft by day, and survive at night when the enemies come out. The developer is billing it as an “unforgiving” mode, where you need to actually build fires and find fuel to survive, and so on. I can’t vouch for it but it sounds cool on paper.
As a reminder, Rise of the Tomb Raider‘s exclusivity is likely going to die off soon with the PC release next month.
Minecraft Wii U Will Support Voice Chat and Keyboards, Says Report
Japanese eShop listing reveals a few features for Wii U version.
The Wii U version of Minecraft will support USB keyboards for sending messages and is compatible with the Wii U Pro Controller, according to a listing on the Japanese Nintendo eShop.
The listing, which was spotted by Reddit userGamestoper, states the Wii U version will also include voice chat functionality. These features are yet to be officially confirmed by Nintendo, Minecraft creator Mojang, or its parent company Microsoft.
On December 9, it was revealed that Minecraft Wii U would not let players use the console’s GamePad for inventory management, as many expected it would.
Responding to questions on Twitter, Mojang developer Owen Hill said such a feature “would be cool,” but it’s not supported, at least not yet.”
He continued: “It’s just used as an alternate screen if someone is using the TV. Would be cool though.”
Microsoft has a new Nintendo game … that’s a strange thing to write.
Minecraft comes to Wii U on Thursday, and we got our hands on a copy of the blocky world-building phenomenon. We’re going to try it out to see what it’s like, and you can watch along as we punch trees and craft swords and shovels out of rocks.
