Key Minecraft Statistics
- Microsoft acquired Minecraft for $2.5 billion.
- Minecraft player count is above 600 million. 400 million of them are coming from China [4].
- Minecraft’s lifetime revenue from game sales alone, excluding IAP, has already reached $3 billion [1].
- Minecraft generated $415 million in revenue in 2020, while Minecraft Mobile generated $146.2 million for the same year [1].
- Mojang earned $500 million from Minecraft in 2018 and $375 million in 2019 [1].
- Minecraft Mobile, or The Bedrock Edition, earned $110 million in revenue from mobile sales [1].
- It only took six days for Mojang to develop Minecraft in 2009. The game was launched in 2011 [1].
- The United States accounts for 37.2% of servers worldwide [10].
You’ve probably seen a YouTube video or two about a game that lets people build whatever they want, and no, we’re not talking about Sims. This game we’re talking about looks like it came from the early 2000’s era of video games because of its blocky textures and graphics. The game that we’re referring to is Minecraft.
Minecraft was released in November 2011 by a company called Mojang Studios, a game development company located in Stockholm, Sweden. The premise of the game is simple. It’s a sandbox game that allows you to interact with the world around you and build whatever out of the materials you farm and gather.
But like Sims, Minecraft doesn’t really give you all the info that you need on what you need to do, or what the goals are. You’re just there to let your creativity do the rest. For those less creative, we have built out some of the best Minecraft house ideas. Minecraft throws you in a massive 3D world with lots of resources to farm, gather, and extract. And after gathering these items, you can CRAFT the necessary items to build houses, raise animals, and even defend yourself.
For people who play Minecraft, the appeal is undeniable but what about those who aren’t familiar with the game or who only saw the game through Minecraft YouTube videos? The latter are probably confused as to why this game has become so huge. Lego already has box sets of the franchise, Netflix has a Minecraft show, and there are clothing brands out there with Minecraft designs.
We’re going to take a look at the numbers and the overall Minecraft statistics and see why this game has become one of the most successful ones in the video game industry.
An Overview of Minecraft
Minecraft was developed by Mojang Studios, located in Stockholm, Sweden. The game was created only in six days in 2009 and launched two years after in 2011. Seeing the success of the game, Microsoft bought Minecraft for $2.5 billion in 2014.
The game has won multiple awards including Kid’s Choice Award for Video Games in 2015, Best Independent Game Award in 2011, and Best Family and Social Game Award in 2015. The game’s creator, Markus Persson, won the BAFTA Games Special Award in 2012. .
How Much Money Does Minecraft Make?
Minecraft Revenue Statistics
Here are the numbers that let us know how much revenue Minecraft has generated over the years [1]:
- Minecraft’s lifetime revenue already reached $3 billion, just from selling the game and excluding in game transactions.
- In 2020, Minecraft generated $415 million in revenue and $146.2 million in revenue was generated from mobile devices.
- Mojang earned $500 million from Minecraft in 2018 and $375 million in 2019.
- Minecraft’s mobile version , The Pocket Edition (now known as Bedrock Edition), generated $110 million in revenue from mobile devices in 2018.
- The USA was the biggest spender for the same period of observance, accounting for 48% of the entire revenue. Great Britain followed at 6.6% and Japan with 5%.
- Creators have earned $350 million from the Minecraft Marketplace [2].
- Content creators receive 50% of the profit, meaning the developers have earned at least $17 million from them.
- 12,000 content creators are active right now on the Minecraft Marketplace.
- The program started in 2017 with only 9 Minecraft Marketplace creators, and 3 more were added three months later.
- 67% of players are purchasing products sold on the Minecraft Marketplace.
- The mobile version of Minecraft generated $160.7 million in revenue from global IAP or in app purchases in 2021, which was a 12.68% increase from the previous year [11].
- Mojang announced on May 2020 that Minecraft games sales have reached 200 million worldwide [11].
- Minecraft’s largest prize pool for a tournament reached $100,000. The tournament was called the Dream Vs Technoblade Minecraft Tournament, organized by the one and only MrBeast [3].
Technoblade is one of the most popular content creator for the game. He streamed Minecraft on Twitch and also created Minecraft YouTube Videos up until his passing in June 30, 2022 [4]. The community of Minecraft players as a whole is wholesome and constantly hosts different events.
One such notable organizer of Minecraft tournaments and events is MrBeast, the YouTube philanthropist. MrBeast is well known for having the deepest pockets and doesn’t shy away from holding events and tournaments with large cash prizes straight out of his own pockets.
How Many Minecraft Players Are There?
- There are more than 600 million registered in Minecraft worldwide. 400 million of these users are from China [4].
- This roughly means that 1 out of every 4 people in China play Minecraft.
- In 2020, China added 100 million new users and setting a new growth record for Minecraft.
- The average age of Minecraft Players is 24 years old [5].
- Young boys aged 3 years to 12 years old comprise 54% of the group playing Minecraft compared to 32% for girls within the same age.
- Within the age bracket of 6 years old to 8 years old, 68% of them are male and 29% are female.
- Minecraft is suitable for kids aged 7 and up.
- Minecraft’s monthly active users is 141 million in 2021, while it was only 131 million in 2020. In 2019, that number was 91 million [8].
- Minecraft’s multiplayer mode clocked in over 1 billion hours logged in by all players globally [8].
- At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Minecraft experienced a 25% increase in number of active users and 40% increase in number of multiplayer sessions [8].
- United Stats accounts for 21% of the total number of active players, followed by Brazil with 6.17% and Russia with 5.59% [9].
- As of this writing, there are currently 3.6 million players logged in to the game.
- Majority of servers (37.2%) are from the United States. There are 1,693 servers in the country alone. Great Britain comprises 23.4% of the total server count with 1,065 servers, and Germany with 453 servers (9.9%) [10].
- In August 2021, the number of monthly active users hit 141 million globally. In May 2020, that number was 126 million [12].
- Minecraft videos and Twitch streams were viewed by 38,500 viewers in April 2022 [13].
Minecraft events on the video streaming service Twitch were watched by an average of 38.5 thousand viewers in April 2022
How Many People Have Downloaded Minecraft?
- Minecraft ranks #41 in Top Grossing Games on iPhone and #19 for the same category on iPad [14].
- Google Play US ranks Minecraft as the Top Paid Game and Top Paid App, and Top Paid Game (arcade category) [15].
- Minecraft launched a Chinese Edition together with NetEase. Minecraft Chinese Edition has been downloaded 425 million times as of July 2021 [16], [17].
- In 2017, the year it was launched, Minecraft Chinese Edition only had 75 million downloads [16], [17], [18].
Minecraft launched its Chinese edition with NetEase, and it has been downloaded 425 million times as of July 2021.
Wrapping Up
What is the true value of Minecraft, Minecraft Mobile, Minecraft Dungeons, and all the other components of the franchise? People still play Minecraft to this day, and the Minecraft Player Count on a daily basis is in millions. The hundred million monthly active users implies that the game is one of the popular video games out there, and is constantly enjoyed by even the top Twitch and YouTube content creators.
The gaming community itself is wholesome, even though there are a few bad eggs here and there.
Minecraft is one of the best selling video games of all time, and all because this video game allowed you to exercise your creativity and earn money too. The social aspect of Minecraft is also very well integrated through the mini maps, dungeons, and other player-created maps. When people play Minecraft, it’s a challenge for them to determine whether or not the server they’re on is official or hosted by other players.
References
[1] https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/18/21262045/minecraft-sales-monthly-players-statistics-youtube
[2] https://www.windowscentral.com/minecraft-live-2021-numbers-update
[3] https://www.esportsearnings.com/games/559-minecraft
[4] https://www.tweaktown.com/news/76446/minecraft-has-400m-players-in-china-alone-600m-globally/index.html
[5] https://www.pcmag.com/news/minecraft-has-surpassed-131-million-monthly-active-users
[6] https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-09-16-minecraft-has-acquired-another-20-million-monthly-players-in-the-last-12-months
[7] https://www.pocketgamer.biz/asia/news/71961/minecraft-300-million-registered-users-china
[8] https://www.windowscentral.com/minecraft-live-2021-numbers-update
[9] https://playercounter.com/minecraft
[10] https://minecraft-statistic.net/en/global_statistic.html
[11] https://www.statista.com/statistics/972711/minecraft-mobile-revenue/
[12] https://www.statista.com/statistics/680139/minecraft-active-players-worldwide/
[13] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109046/minecraft-number-viewers/
[14] https://app.sensortower.com/ios/us/mojang/app/minecraft/479516143/overview
[15] https://app.sensortower.com/android/us/mojang/app/minecraft/com.mojang.minecraftpe/overview
[16] https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-05-24-minecraft-reaches-100-million-downloads-in-china
[17] https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/mustafa-mahmoud/minecraft-surpasses-400-million-players-in-china-alone/
[18] https://www.pocketgamer.biz/asia/news/71961/minecraft-300-million-registered-users-china/