Minecraft in 2015: Still lots of life left in it

It might appear that the trail has gone cold and the scent of Minecraft is waning, but in fact there’s nothing further from the truth. After Microsoft’s acquisition of Mojang (Minecraft’s studio creator) for $2.5 billion last year, the numbers have continued to stack up: 20 million digital copies sold for the PC and Mac versions and more than 30 million of the Pocket version, not to mention the recent launch of a new version for Windows 10 and its interconnection between platforms. Without counting those who play the Free version, the number of Minecraft purchases has now topped the total population of Spain or Colombia.

The Microsoft era

Although Notch, father of this monster, says he’s sad now that he’s become a multimillionaire, no one can really rain on his parade after his baby’s acquisition by Microsoft, who have exploited the product by using it as a warhorse on many fronts – be it as an example of what their still-incipient virtual reality glasses can do, or its presence in the Windows 10 Store, where you can download it for free if you already have the digital version for PC or Mac. To do so, just login on the Mojang website, click the Redeem button, and link your Microsoft account.

Minecraft can run on practically any device, be it the Pocket version on a smartwatch or the recent port for Windows Phone (now that was a labor of love). Given that Minecraft for Windows 10 is based on Minecraft Pocket, as of the recently launched version 0.12.1 it’s now possible to play online (or locally) with players from both platforms.

Life goes on

Although Microsoft appears not to be considering the idea of making a sequel to the game, which would possibly mess up the game’s essence, they haven’t really rested on their laurels, either, in terms of expanding the concept: they are, for instance, set to imminently launch a series of graphic adventures from Telltale Games set in the Minecraft universe. Not to mention the internal developments at Mojang, who are continually releasing parallel updates for the original client.

Obviously sooner or later a ‘Minecraft Killer’ will appear to take the helm, in the same way that the success of World of Warcraft has begun to dissipate due not to the appearance of a clear rival but to the passage of time and the expansion of the already-enormous array of available alternatives. See, for instance, the success of the free cube-related game Trove, which currently has more than a million active users.