Celebrating 15 years of Minecraft

It’s no secret that Minecraft is a global phenomenon. Since its release in 2009, the last 15 years have been a whirlwind of fun for millions of players.

To celebrate its birthday, we look back at Minecraft’s immense impact and the ways it continues to inspire its creative community.

Minecraft has always prided itself on being an accessible creative tool, and it’s arguable that ethos has been in place from day one. Originally developed by just one man, Markus “Notch” Persson, Minecraft’s simple but effective gameplay hook was developed and launched into early access in just six days.

A lot has changed since then, including an expansive array of modes, content, and collaborations. It’s also no longer a one-person show. Alongside the folks at Mojang, there’s now an army of creators building and sharing experiences, showing that Minecraft is truly a game built by its community.

With over 300 million copies sold since its 2009 launch, Minecraft is the best selling game in the world. The next closest game, Grand Theft Auto V, doesn’t even come close – sitting around the 200 million mark.

Given the endless fun you can have building, creating, and playing with others, it’s no surprise Minecraft continues to resonate.

Minecraft has become a huge tool for researchers, data scientists, and even schools with its educational version, Minecraft EDU. Used to spark minds, visualize data, and conduct research, Minecraft has uses well beyond what you’d expect. Some people have even built working computers within the game, including one that’s capable of running its own version of Minecraft.

In 2022 Minecraft passed a monumental milestone on YouTube: it became the first category to pass the 1 trillion views mark.

With over 35,000 YouTube channels creating content, Minecraft is also one of the largest active communities on the video streaming platform. It’s also seen the rise of some of YouTube’s biggest stars, such as MrBeast who started out his video career toying around in Minecraft’s expansive worlds.

Those with eagle eyes may have noticed this fun fact already but hidden within Minecraft’s menu is a playful tease that only the keenest of players might encounter. Due to a quirk in the game’s code, every 1 in 10,000 times you start Minecraft the menu screen will misspell its own name as Minceraft. Now that sounds like quite a different game!

Celebrate 15 years of Minecraft fun with massive savings of more than 60% off for a limited time. Join the fun wherever and whenever you like.