Nine years after its debut, Minecraft is the second most sold video game of all time. Microsoft continues to rake in the numbers across consoles, including PC, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and mobile, with influencers paving the way for continued dominance.
Since its arrival, Minecraft has handily proven itself better and more persevering than anything that tried to copy its success. On this episode of Game Talk Live, Mandie Roman breaks down the success and dominance of the game alongside a panel of experts including Mari Takahashi of Smosh Games, game developer, 3D modeler and mod creator Mariana Graham, and MinecraftCommunity Manager, Helen Zbihly. This particular episode takes place in two parts due to an interruption during the livestream due to technical difficulties.
Released in 2009, Minecraft has now been ported over to multiple systems, selling millions of copies, and becoming the second best selling video game of all time, as well as being featured in books, movies, cartoons, and other lucrative merchandising. As prominent members of the Minecraft community, each of the panelists discusses what brought them to the game in the first place.
Some of the reasons include the fairly low-res and resources required to run the game while still having fun, as well as the ability to be so heavily creative and do what you want with the game. Discussion also considers these and other factors in the explosive growth of Minecraft, such as the Let’s Play community that built up around it on YouTube, the continual expansion of the game’s content, and the social community that has built up around it.
The panel then approaches the accessibility of the game. The cross-platform compatibility between different consoles and formats makes it so people can play not just on their own system, but across multiple systems to make the community far more interconnected. The panel also considers the access of mobile play on Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS as a modifier to the way people approach video games and play together in general. The experts then discuss if there is any end in sight for Minecraft as a whole. The panel also looks at Fortnite for its similarly creative building aspects and question whether Minecraft and Fortnite can learn from one another.
In part two of this episode of Game Talk Live, the panel begins by looking at the sheer amount of modding and user-created content for Minecraft. Guests look at how the mod scene of creators and artists helped to expand and grow Minecraft‘s overall success. The question comes up as to how Microsoft and Mojang work to appease both the casual and the hardcore sides of various communities. Discussion covers how the developers provide for both modders and technical players and users, as well as casual interests and “normal” players.
The panel also discusses the creators that are allowed to create content for the Minecraft Marketplace, including use of Microsoft’s already existing system for promoting content developers that are accepted into the community. The standard of quality and care is considered for the content that appears in the Minecraft Marketplace. The panel then discusses the future of content creation and open-endedness for Minecraft.
This episode has wrapped up, but you can see it in its entirety in the videos above. Be sure to check out the previous episode of Game Talk Live as well, where experts discuss whether there is oversaturation or buckling in the market place of Battle Royale games.
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