The popularity of Minecraft is increasing day by day and so does its revenue. Statistics showed about 176 million copies of Minecraft have been sold worldwide and the number includes Bedrock and Java Editions. The Java edition has made over $600,000 profit. If you consider all platforms at an average price of $15 then the total revenue will be around 2.65 billion dollars. According to The Verge; Minecraft has reached the official sales of 200 million in 2020 and they have 126 million active players.
Key Takeaways
- Minecraft is a very popular sandbox video game that was first released on November 18, 2011
- In this game, you have to create and break various types of blocks in three-dimensional worlds
- In 2014, Microsoft acquired Minecraft for $2.5 billion
- In 2020, Mojang released Minecraft Dungeons for consoles and PC
- Minecraft has generated $415 million revenue in 2020 and the mobile version has generated $110 million in revenue
Minecraft is a very popular sandbox video game that was developed by Mojang. This game was first released on November 18, 2011. In this game, players create and break various types of blocks in three-dimensional worlds. This game has two main modes: survival and creativity. In the survival, mode players have to find and manage their buildings and foods. On the other hand, in the creative mode players will be given food and supplies and they can break all kinds of blocks immediately. The main purpose of this game is to build, explore, and supply.
History Of Minecraft
Initially, Minecraft was launched by Markus ‘Notch’ Persson in 2009 and it was before the official release of this game. When the game was launched it got lots of attention and it was available as the alpha and beta version for PC users. This was Mojang’s fine-tuning aspects of the game for official release. After the official launch in 2011, millions of people started to play this game. Moreover, Mojang continued to add new elements to the game to increase its popularity. In 2014, Microsoft acquired Minecraft for $2.5 billion. Mojang on the other hand continued to expand the Minecraft universe by launching several editions of Minecraft, such as a free Chinese edition and an education edition in 2016. Between 2016 and 2017; Minecraft: Story Mode was launched by Telltale Games and it was the first attempt to bring the experience beyond the sandbox. In 2020, Mojang released Minecraft Dungeons for consoles and PC.
Important Statistics Of Minecraft
According to Business of Apps –
1. Minecraft has generated $415 million revenue in 2020 and the mobile version has generated $110 million in revenue
2. More than 130 million people have played Minecraft at least once a month in 2020
3. The Minecraft game was sold 200 million copies in all formats
4. The free version, Minecraft’s Chinese edition has been downloaded over 400 million
Overview Of Minecraft
| Launch date | 17 May 2009 (PC alpha); 18 November 2011 (General release) |
| Headquarter | 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 |
Year-Wise 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 |
Year Wise 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 |
| 2019 | $111 million |
| 2020 | $142 million |
Year-Wise Total Minecraft Users
| Year | Monthly Active Users |
| 2016 | 40 million |
| 2017 | 55 million |
| 2018 | 75 million |
| 2019 | 91 million |
| 2020 | 131 million |
Year-Wise 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 |
Year Wise “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 |
Year Wise Minecraft Chinese Edition Downloads
| Year | Total Downloads |
| 2017 | 75 million |
| 2018 | 150 million |
| 2019 | 300 million |
| 2020 | 400 million |
FAQs About Minecraft
1. How Much Revenue Has Minecraft Made Since Its Launch?
Since the launch, Minecraft has generated more than 3 billion dollars as revenue.
2. What Percentage Of Minecraft Players Are On Mobile?
The edition of Minecraft mobile has increased the total number of Minecraft players. Recent statistics showed, approximately 40 percent of players play Minecraft on Mobile and the mobile version has generated more than 30 percent of all revenue.
3. In Which Region Minecraft Pocket Edition Is The Most Popular?
The Minecraft pocket edition is popular in North America, Asia, and South America (US Gamer).
4. How Much Is Minecraft Worth?
According to Forbes, as of November of 2020, Minecraft is worth $1.9 billion.
5. Who Is The Owner Of Minecraft?
Initially, Markus Persson was the owner of Minecraft before he sold the game to Microsoft for $2.5 billion in November 2014. Since then, Microsoft is the owner of Minecraft.
6. Is Minecraft Still Free?
Minecraft is not a free game but it has a free trial version available on Windows 10, Android, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and Vita. So in the free trial version, you can play for a fixed amount of time.
References
1. https://www.statista.com/statistics/972711/minecraft-mobile-revenue/
2. https://www.pcgamer.com/minecraft-modders-have-sold-a-billion-mods-for-more-than-dollar350m-since-microsoft-bought-it/
3. https://www.businessofapps.com/data/minecraft-statistics/
Last Updated on October 19, 2022 by Magalie D.
Magalie D. is a Diploma holder in Public Administration & Management from McGill University of Canada. She shares management tips here in MGTBlog when she has nothing to do and gets some free time after working in a multinational company at Toronto.
