Minecraft is a 3D video game created by Markus Persson, and published on PC by Mojang back in 2011. Ever since its release, it"s been very popular and has become a global phenomenon. Received positively by reviewers and consumers alike, it has been a commercial success. In fact, its continuing popularity prompted Microsoft to buy Mojang for $2.5 billion in 2014.
It so happens that the game has sold over 25 million copies on PC and Mac to-date.
According to the latest statistics publicly available on Mojang"s website, Minecraft has sold 25,072,545 copies on PC and Mac at the time of this writing. Moreover, it has also sold 8,316 copies in the last 24 hours alone. Around six months ago, the company also surpassed the 100 million sales mark across all platforms. These are some very impressive figures for a game that"s over five years old.
In these past five years, the game has launched on various platforms, including Android, iOS, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Raspberry Pi, Gear VR, Apple TV and more. Microsoft"s purchase of Mojang triggered the release of the title on Windows Phone as well as Windows 10. The Redmond giant showcased the game played on HoloLens too. It also teamed up with Telltale Games to launch Minecraft: Story Mode, which achieved moderate success. A movie and a novel based on the best-seller are on the way as well.
That said, Minecraft has had its fair share of controversies as well. Its creator Markus "Notch" Persson came under a lot of fire for openly criticizing Windows 8. A Minecraft replica of Denmark was attacked by American gamers in 2014, 1800 account credentials were leaked in 2015, followed by a call for a nationwide ban by a Turkish ministry, because Minecraft was deemed "too violent" for children.