Minecraft PC passes 10m sales, Xbox 360 retail launch this month

Minecraft has surpassed 10m copies sold across PC, Mac, and Linux platforms.

 

"Minecraft (PC) has hit 10M! As promised, a subtle hint on the main 1.6 feature…" Bergensten tweeted.

 

Bergensten’s link was to a photo of a horse, indicating what would appear to be a new feature for the upcoming update for the game.

 

In other Minecraft news, the Xbox 360 edition will land at retail on April 30th in the US for $20. As of March, the game has sold 6m copies on XBLA alone since its launch last May.

 

The retail version will arrive in Australia, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan in early June – though no word on additional regions, such as Europe.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/minecraft-pc-10m-sales-xbox-360-retail-launch-this-month/0113654

The Making of Minecraft

The Making of Minecraft
“I think I was already f***ing rich by the time I realised, ‘I’m gonna be f***ing rich.’” That’s how quickly it all happened for Markus ‘Notch’ Persson.

He’d made a game called Minecraft – you may have heard of it. It did rather well. Is doing, actually: three and a half years after the alpha version went on sale, Notch’s studio, Mojang, is still selling 43,420 copies every day, and that number continues to climb.

The Future of Minecraft: what lies ahead for the all-conquering sandbox game?

The Future of Minecraft: what lies ahead for the all-conquering sandbox game?

It’s hard to imagine how Minecraft could become any bigger than it already is, or how Mojang could spend the money if it did. Then the Mojang guys tell me. It sounds like a good plan.

Minecraft creator blames GAME failure on digital distribution

http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/27/minecraft-creator-blames-game-failure-on-digital-distribution/
Minecraft creator blames GAME failure on digital distribution

Mojang boss and indie ambassador Markus “Notch” Persson finds digital distribution a bit of a two-edged sword.
 

Minecraft sold 453,000 copies on December 25

http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/02/minecraft-sold-453000-copies-on-december-24/
Minecraft sold 453,000 copies on December 25

Mojang has announced that 453,000 copies of Minecraft were sold on Christmas Day. According to Minecraft creator Markus “Notch” Persson on Twitter, “Across all platforms, Minecraft sold 453k copies on dec 25! Wowzers!"

According to Minecraft’s official site, 8.7 million copies of the PC version have been sold to date. On top of the 4 million Xbox 360 copies sold and 5 million copies sold on iOS and Android, nearly 18 million copies of Minecraft have been sold to date across all platforms.

MineCon 2012

From PC Gamer:

Mojang and the House of Mouse have joined forces to stage this year’s Minecraft convention, taking place on November 24th and 25th at Disneyland Paris. The amusement park has been hired exclusively for this event, so the amassed fanbase for its block-based imaginarium can mingle, make merry and attempt not to throw up on the rollercoasters without the usual crowds and queues. If that sounds incroyable to you, head over to the official MineCon site toute de suite – tickets are sure to go fast.
Early-bird tickets go for €99. For that sum you get:

• Admission to the Disney Events Arena from 10am to about 6pm.
• A party at the Walt Disney Studios Park, reserved for MineCon attendees, on the Saturday night.
• Discounts on Disney hotels (from €78) and park tickets.
• And, if you are over 18, access to .party() in Paris on Sunday night.

There’ll also be panels to attend and Mojangstas (Mojangutans?) to stalk. If you do snag a ticket, make sure to look out for handsome ex-PCG web editor, Owen Hill, who sadly leaves us to join the ranks of Mojang. He loves it when strangers attempt to gently insert a finger into his belly button.
Also, here’s a badass video of the PC Gamer UK Minecraft server by player WubbaDuckii:

The development of Minecraft

From the Minecraft Wikipedia page:

 

The developer of Minecraft, Markus Persson aka Notch, had previously worked on games such as Wurm Online and as a game developer for King.com for over four years.^[9][10] Persson quit his job at King.com in order to independently develop Minecraft.^[9][11] Persson was inspired to create Minecraft by several other games such as Dwarf Fortress, Infiniminer by Zachtronics Industries, and Dungeon Keeper by Bullfrog Productions. He was still working out the basics of gameplay when he discovered Infiniminer and played with others on the TIGSource.com forums.^[10][11] At the time, he had also been visualizing an isometric 3D building game that would be a cross between his inspirations and had made some early prototypes.^[9][12] After discovering Infiniminer, Persson declared, "My god, I realized that that was the game I wanted to do."^[13] Infiniminer heavily influenced the style of gameplay that eventually resulted in Minecraft, including the first-person aspect of the game and the "blocky" visual style.^[11]

Minecraft XBLA sales top 4 million

World building game smashes yet another milestone

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has surpassed four million sales, according to developer 4J Studios.

The company said on Twitter: "Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has passed 4 million sales! Incredible number, thanks to you all!"
CVG Video after the cut...

Minecraft PC joins the pre-paid gift card market

Mojang announced Monday that pre-paid gift cards for Minecraft on the PC are hitting major retailers in the United States.
The Minecraft gift cards cover the $26.95 price of the game and should be showing up at the likes of Best Buy, Target and Walmart today. Once purchased or received as a gift, you'll just need to go to account.mojang.com to redeem the code that comes on the card with your new or existing account.

The Story of Mojang- the Minecraft documentary out in December

http://www.examiner.com/article/the-story-of-mojang-the-minecraft-documentary-out-december

As most fans are awaiting the 1.8.2 title update for Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition, 2 Player Productions is getting ready to unleash their Minecraft documentary to the world. The documentary, The Story of Mojang, will take you back to the beginning of Minecraft, how it originated and what made it a success.
The Story of Mojang will allow us to follow Markus "Notch" Persson for about a year in 2011 after his fast rise to fame and fortune.

'Minecraft' heading into print after publisher buys rights

Minecraft is to make the leap to the printed page after publisher Egmont snapped up rights to the hugely popular social building game.

Egmont Publishing Group has signed a deal with Minecraft maker Mojang for magazine and book rights covering all territories apart from the US.

Often described as "virtual LEGO", Minecraft offers a universe in which players can create and build anything they want using virtual bricks.
(Article follows)

The rise of minecraft

Mojang callaborates with the UN

http://www.edge-online.com/news/mojang-announces-block-block-collaboration-un

 

Mojang announces Block By Block, a collaboration with the UN

Minecraft developer aims to get youth involved with town planning and upgrade 300 public spaces by 2016.