An empire built block by block
When Microsoft shelled out$2.5 billion to buyMinecraftback in 2014, everyone knew why the price was so steep.Minecraftis one of the most popular video games on the planet, a block-building machine that absolutely prints money.
We have new context as to exactly how successful it has been — all in a relatively short time, too. As part ofMinecraft‘s 10-year anniversary celebration, Microsoft has confirmed it’s sitting at 176 million lifetime sales. That’s a staggering number. According tothis list, it’s enough to have passedTetrisas the best-selling game of all-time.
TheTetristhing is tricky, though.Tetriswas last reported to have reached 170 lifetime sales, but that was back in 2010. There aren’t updated figures to reflect how closeMinecraftandTetrisreally are. However, 100 million ofTetris‘ sales came fromearly mobile devices, so it’s plausible that number has grown significantly.
Regardless of the specifics, there’s no denying thatMinecraftis an absolute juggernaut. The world aroundMinecraftis only growing too, as Microsoft has plenty of projects in the works — like the just-announcedAR game that’s similar toPokemon Go, the cooperative dungeon-crawling spin-off, and a free browser version. Not bad for a sandbox full of a bunch of blocks.
