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Minecraft

Minecraft
Developer(s) Mojang
Publisher(s) Xbox Game Studios
Series Minecraft
Release Date(s) Official PC Release
November 18, 2011
Xbox 360
May 9, 2012
Xbox One
September 5, 2014
Genre(s) Sandbox
Mode(s) Singleplayer, multiplayer
Platform(s) PC, MacOS, Linux, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, iOS, iPadOS, Android, Windows Phone, Fire OS, Wii U, New Nintendo 3DS

Minecraft is a sandbox video game developed by Mojang Studios (a subsidiary of Xbox Game Studios) and originally released in 2009. It was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. After several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before being fully released on November 18, 2011, with Notch stepping down and Jens "Jeb" Bergensten taking over development. Minecraft has become the best-selling video game in history, with over 300 million copies sold and nearly 140 million monthly active players as of 2023. It has been ported to several platforms.

The game focuses on allowing the player to explore, interact with, and modify a dynamically generated map of one-cubic-meter-sized blocks. In addition to blocks, the environment features plants, mobs, and items. Some activities include mining for ore, fighting hostile mobs, and crafting new blocks and tools by gathering various resources found in the game.

The music for the game is created by Daniel "C418" Rosenfeld, Lena Raine, Kumi Tanioka, Samuel Åberg, and Aaron Cherof. The paintings in the game are created by Kristoffer Zetterstrand.

History

Markus "Notch" Persson was inspired to create Minecraft after playing Infiniminer with other members of the TIGSource forums in May 2009; other influences include Dwarf Fortress, Dungeon Keeper, and Notch's own previous project, RubyDung. The first video of Minecraft was uploaded to YouTube on May 13, 2009, and it was simply called "Cave Game". The name Minecraft: Order of the Stone was used, but eventually it was shortened to just Minecraft.

In October 2014, Microsoft purchased Mojang AB and the rights to Minecraft for US$2.5 billion which was followed by Notch and a few other original developers retiring from the company shortly after.[1]

Minecraft has sold over 200 million copies as of May 2020.[2]

On May 9, 2012, Minecraft was released for Xbox 360 under the name Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition or Minecraft XBLA. It was released as a download for 1600 Microsoft Points ($20.00). In June 2013, during Microsoft's E3 conference, Minecraft: Xbox One Edition was announced and then released on September 5, 2014, for a price of $19.99 for the basic version or $4.99 as a discounted price for owners of the Xbox 360 version.

At Microsoft's press conference during E3 2017, it was announced that the console editions of Minecraft would be getting cross-play with each other. This was known as the "Better Together Update". This update was released for Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows 10, Virtual Reality, and Pocket Editions of the game. Xbox 360, Wii U, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita editions were excluded from this update as the consoles do not possess the power possible to run this update. The PlayStation 4 version was excluded at first, but it gained cross-play abilities starting December 10, 2019.

Gameplay

A player has a hunger bar and a health bar. The hunger bar, if full, can slowly recharge the health bar, but not vice versa. If either of the bars reaches zero, a player is at risk of death, either from starvation, lack of health, or other instances of death. The hunger bar normally decreases slowly. However, activities such as sprinting or mining can lower the bar faster than usual. Usually, foods such as pork chops and steak can fill the hunger bar back to a high level and can be acquired by simply punching the animal to death.

But for long-term survival, a player is recommended to take or build a shelter. Building a shelter is a critical first part of exploring a world. Shelters are important, as they can protect a player from hostile mobs, and they can serve the same purpose as a home in real life. Most shelters take the form of houses, such as to the right. Houses are favored often because of their simplicity as well as the short amount of time necessary to build them. A player typically starts mining after a house is made. Mining is an especially important part of Minecraft, hence the name.

Game Modes

There are three different Game modes in the console version of Minecraft.

  1. Survival - the player is required to gather food and other materials to survive.
  2. Creative - the player can place any type of block, has no health, and cannot die. The player can also fly.
  3. Adventure - Gameplay has the same properties as Survival, but players can only mine blocks with proper Tools.

Reception

This section requires an expansion.

Minecraft received critical acclaim for the creative freedom it grants players in-game and the ease of enabling emergent gameplay, among other things.[Citation needed] Metacritic gave the PC version a 93/100, the Xbox One version an 88/100, and the Xbox 360 version an 82/100. IGN gave the PC version a 9.0/10, the Xbox 360 version an 8.5/10, and the Xbox One version a 9.7/10.

Sales

This section requires an expansion.

Less than a month after it had entered its beta phase in early 2011, Minecraft surpassed over a million purchases.

The Xbox 360 version of Minecraft became profitable within the first day of its release in May 2012, when the game broke the Xbox Live records with 400,000 players online. Within a week of being on the Xbox Live Marketplace, Minecraft sold a million copies.

As of 2023, the game has sold over 300 million copies.[3]

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ Pagliery, Jose (September 15, 2014). "Microsoft buys Minecraft for $2.5 billion". CNN Business. Retrieved on May 27, 2021.
  2. ↑ Warren, Tom (May 18, 2020). "Minecraft still incredibly popular as sales top 200 million and 126 million play monthly". The Verge. Retrieved on May 27, 2021.
  3. ↑ Boddy, Zachary (October 15, 2023). "Minecraft crosses 300 million copies sold as it prepares to celebrate its 15th anniversary". Windows Central.

External links