Can you believe that it’s been nine years since the great blocky game that we have all played has been released? (Be honest, at some point you have). I’m talking about none other than Minecraft. Gosh do I feel old. Grossing well over $240 million in those nine years and having more than 100 million users – on the PC version alone – Minecraft was the Fortnite of the early 2010s. The majority of people playing were most likely in elementary school or middle school when Minecraft shot up in popularity.

Game History

Minecraft ‘classic’ was the version that released in mid-2009 and only consisted of the player, and a large flat world of nothing but dirt. That was only the first few months.

In September 2009, Minecraft ‘Survival Test’ was released. The world in game got some updates and certain mobs, and hills were added.

Then, in June 2010 – a full year after Minecraft was released – Minecraft 1.0 – better known as Minecraft Alpha – became available. Minecraftt Alpha was the first of updates that involved the Minecraft we know today. Trees were added and more mobs, such as pigs and creepers, were added. The player spawned into an open world with nothing and had to chop down trees and build a shelter to survive through the night. Several minor updates came out between then and Halloween, which saw the release of Minecraft 1.2, the Nether update.

The Nether, better known as Hell was a world that was alternate from the Overworld, in which a player had to build a portal out of obsidian in order to get there. In the nether, players were faced with lava oceans and fireball shooting and flying creatures called Ghast. Minecraft was what was known as a ‘sandbox game,’ meaning there was no formal way to beat the game, unlike Skyrim, Fallout New Vegas and Gears of War, other popular games at this time, which have a storyline and a way to beat the game. Minecraft received many updates after this, including adding in new blocks, weapons, and textures, the release of adventure mode, which gave the player tasks they had to complete, and many smaller things. The game was unique, as players could literally do anything – create a mega mansion, a floating city, working things with redstone (e.x.- a working clock), and so many other things.

Although a lot of people loved the freedom Minecraft brought, some wanted a way to “beat the game.” The call from the players was answered, when Minecraft 1.8 was released in September 2014.

Nicknamed ‘The End Update,’ this version brought another dimension, similar to the Nether. The player had to craft Ender Eyes and find an underground prison called a Stronghold. Within the stronghold was an End Portal, in which the player had to activate with 12 ender eyes, then they would jump in and be transported to the End.

Current Popularity

You may think Minecraft is dead, that no one plays it anymore, and other things about the blocky game, but that’s where you’re wrong. According to www.businessinsider.com, Nearly 50 million people still play Minecraft monthly. That’s how many accounts log on monthly. To this day, Minecraft still makes around $30,000 a day as of July 2018, but compared to the $300,000 it was making a day in August 2017, that’s a very significant drop.

In November 2012, the game had already brought in over $100 million in sales and has made over $240 million since February 2018.

So to finally answer the question: How popular is Minecraft after being out for nine years?

Look at the facts, nearly half of the registered users still log into the game on a monthly basis, and it still makes several million dollars each month.

So the next time you see someone playing Minecraft or hear someone talking about it and you say “That game is dead,” think again. This nine-year-old game is still popular, and it will take a long time to become ‘dead.’