Microsoft reported their Q3 earnings with a few facts about how successful they’ve been with Minecraft. Minecraft, created by Markus Persson (Notch) was acquired by Microsoft in the year 2014 for approximately $2.5 billion USD. This week Microsoft revealed some facts about how the franchise is doing and where they are with what’s widely regarded as the best-selling video game of all time.
Minecraft is one of the most long-lasting games ever made, appearing on multiple platforms over the course of the past decade. Minecraft (Java Edition) was first launched in May of 2009, available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Since then, Minecraft has been launched on Android, iOS, Kindle (Amazon stuff), Gear VR, Oculus Rift, Fire TV (Amazon’s Android again), Xbox One, Windows MR, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, and PlayStation 5 (with PS4 backward compatibility).
Earlier versions of the game were available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, Wii U, and Nintendo 3DS. Microsoft suggested this week that Minecraft is available now on a total of 22 platforms. Basically Minecraft is on more devices than you can shake a stick at.
They also reported that Minecraft Marketplace creators have generated “more then $350 million to date” worldwide, and more than 1 billion unique pieces of content have been downloaded from this same Minecraft Marketplace. Microsoft stated that, as of April of 2021, Minecraft has “up to 139 million monthly active players.” Microsoft also suggested that as of April of 2021 more than 238 million copies of Minecraft have been sold worldwide.
The most striking bits of the report released by Microsoft here in the Spring of 2021 has to do with awareness of the brand – this on top of the sales numbers and active population numbers make Minecraft one of the most clearly great investments in a brand that Microsoft has ever made. In the company report released this week, Microsoft said that “90 percent of the U.S. online population is aware of the Minecraft brand,” and that “more than 50 percent of kids age 9-11 play Minecraft” in North America and Europe.
