Minecraft has ascended into a gaming institution like Pokémon. And now, Microsoft is adding Minecraft to Xbox Game Pass. For $10 per month, you can get Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Crackdown 3, and — beginning April 4 — Minecraft.
“Since its launch in 2009, the Minecraft community has remained one of the most active and passionate in gaming, attracting over 91 million players [each month] of all ages from virtually every country in the world,” Xbox Game Pass marketing boss Parimal Deshpande said. “Those joining through Xbox Game Pass will enter a vibrant, global community that plays across 20 unique platforms like Windows 10, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and mobile.”
More people for Minecraft Marketplace
Minecraft is not free-to-play, but it still seems ubiquitous. But by adding Minecraft to Game Pass, Microsoft could amplify that effect. And it is simultaneously boosting Games while exposing more people to Minecraft’s in-game store.
“Xbox Game Pass players will also gain access to an ever-expanding array of content for purchase via the in-game Minecraft Marketplace,” said Deshpande. “[The Marketplace] contains over 1,000 pieces of content from 60 distinct creators.”
The Minecraft Marketplace is a major focus for Micorosft. It treats it more as an ongoing service. That’s why it’s available everywhere and supports cross-play. And enabling community creators to build and sell content is a part of that. This ensures the game continues to make revenue and players have an abundance of fresh content beyond The Minecraft Team’s frequent updates.
And now Game Pass players can hop into Minecraft without spending any extra money, and they may end up spending cash in the Marketplace instead.
That huge growth has come due in part to the attention that Microsoft and The Minecraft Team are giving the service. The developer has added features like search and real-money prices. And the team has also worked to regularly deliver free content to keep people coming back.
All of that has paid off, and now the Minecraft Marketplace’s future seems very bright.
“Get cracking with these starter skins and old favorites brought over from Minecraft editions of yore. Widen your wardrobe, turn out in a tux, or rock it as a croc.”
2. Purple Parrot Party Palace by Minecraft
“A celebration of all things purple parrot party and palace. Master the mechanics of fireworks, armor stands, jukeboxes, and banners. Traverse a jungle island to find a massive parrot temple. Part tutorial and part adventure, this map will make your parrot dance.”
3. Grid Runners by Noxcrew
“Take on Noxcrew’s Grid Runners: a mini-game map made of classic Minecraft challenges where you can craft, mine, and jump your way to victory. Compete against the clock for the fastest times and team up with all of your friends to find out who is the ultimate Minecraft champion. This is a free map created exclusively for Minecon Earth 2018.”
4. Abstraction: Minecon Earth by Jigarbov Productions
“Featuring the logos that were just begging to be played on, MineCon Earth has floating landmasses with a surprising amount of hidden secrets and challenges.”
5. Pet Shop by Pixelheads
“Welcome to Pet Shop. Choose between 17 lovely pets. Explore a town and earn coins by collecting poop or by catching stray animals. Play fetch with dogs, trim a poodle, or take a snake for a walk. Cats, hamsters, lizards, poodles, capuchin monkeys, snails, hedgehogs, snakes, German shepherds, parakeets, penguins, rats, piggies, ferrets, koalas, chameleons, and rottweilers.”
6. Luxury Life by Pixelheads
“Luxury Life is a world where you role-play life as a billionaire. Cruise the streets in a sports car or any of the 10 other vehicles, explore luxurious mansions and decorate with furniture!”
7. Dragons by InPvP
“Take one of six dragons to the skies and become a legendary dragon rider. Surprise your enemies with custom attacks. Shoot fireballs and drop TNT. Explore three huge castles and the beautiful custom landscape.”
8. Advanced Farming by GameMode One
“Farm your heart out with new machines, vehicles, animals, pets, vendors, characters, and lands to explore. Fully functioning machines and vehicles. New and improved farm animals. Huge custom farm and ranch. A peaceful and relaxing roleplay countryside experience. Progress through the economy and optimize your farm.”
9. Steven Universe Mash-Up by Minecraft
“Steven enters the Minecraft universe in this Diamond-worth mash-up. Contains Steven Universe themed skins, textures, and original music from the show and all your favorite locations, from Beach City to Homeworld. Believe in Steven.”
10. City Life by Pixelheads
“Cruise through the big city in City Life! Chase down a bandit in your police car, save the day as a firefighter or take your dog for a walk.”
“Welcome to Pet Shop. Choose between 17 lovely pets. Explore a town and earn coins by collecting poop or by catching stray animals. Play fetch with dogs, trim a poodle, or take a snake for a walk. Cats, hamsters, lizards, poodles, capuchin monkeys, snails, hedgehogs, snakes, German shepherds, parakeets, penguins, rats, piggies, ferrets, koalas, chameleons, and rottweilers.”
2. Advanced Farming by GameMode One
“Farm your heart out with new machines, vehicles, animals, pets, vendors, characters, and lands to explore. Fully functioning machines and vehicles. New and improved farm animals. Huge custom farm and ranch. A peaceful and relaxing roleplay countryside experience. Progress through the economy and optimize your farm.”
3. Luxury Life by Pixelheads
“Luxury Life is a world where you role-play life as a billionaire. Cruise the streets in a sports car or any of the 10 other vehicles, explore luxurious mansions and decorate with furniture!”
4. Steven Universe Mash-Up by Minecraft
“Steven enters the Minecraft universe in this Diamond-worth mash-up. Contains Steven Universe themed skins, textures, and original music from the show and all your favorite locations, from Beach City to Homeworld. Believe in Steven.”
5. Dragons by InPvP
“Take one of six dragons to the skies and become a legendary dragon rider. Surprise your enemies with custom attacks. Shoot fireballs and drop TNT. Explore three huge castles and the beautiful custom landscape.”
6. City Life by Pixelheads
“Cruise through the big city in City Life! Chase down a bandit in your police car, save the day as a firefighter or take your dog for a walk.”
7. City Mash-Up by Everbloom Studios
“With over 1,000 hand-detailed rooms, there are stories, secrets, and mini-games around every corner. Build with the city’s full texture pack in your own worlds or take on any role you can imagine!”
8. Dinosaur Island by Pixelheads
“This once-idyllic island has been overrun by prehistoric beasts after the scientists lost control of their genetic experiments. Explore and discover the hidden mysteries of this intriguing island in a completely new adventure on Dinosaur Island.”
9. CampCraft by Blockworks
“A vast wilderness awaits you and your friends in CampCraft. Discover forest animals, ride camper vans, toast marshmallows, sit around the campfire, and set up your own camp.”
10. Shopping Time by Cyclone Designs
“It’s shopping time. Spend emeralds around town to buy furniture, cars, bikes, boats, pets, and much more. Decorate a pre-built house or build your own in a vacant plot and let your creativity and imagination flow.”
In the latest update to Minecraft, the game will no longer say “Made by Notch!” or “The Work Of Notch!” when you first boot up the game. Other messages will continue to show up randomly when you’re loading into the block-building phenomenon. But any reference to Persson is gone from that splash screen.
But this isn’t Microsoft trying to erase Notch’s contributions from the game. His name still shows up in the credits. But Microsoft no longer seems interested in celebrating him, either. While that may have more to do with establishing Microsoft as the sole owner and operator of Minecraft, it seems likely that the company does not want to associate with Notch’s edgelord shitposting behavior.
Microsoft deserves the credit for saving Minecraft from its creator
Notch, meanwhile, has turned into a lonely, bizarre internet creep. Despite having billions of dollars and a Beverly Hill mansion with towering candy dispensers all along one of its walls, he spends time trying to provoke people on Twitter.
He regularly makes bigoted remarks and claims to believe in conspiracy theories like QAnon, which isn’t worth explaining. It’s likely that he doesn’t care about what he’s actually saying. He just wants to trigger snowflakes.
And that is the person that Microsoft saved Minecraft from. Notch released Minecraft 10 years ago, but it’s still most popular among young kids. When children grow interested in the game, it’s inevitable that some will want to learn who is making it.
One option is to tell children that it is like a holy text that came to us from aliens.
But Microsoft is solving this by taking ownership over Minecraft on a cultural level. Microsoft is the company that released the Xbox One Adaptive Controllerto make games more accessible for disabled people. And now it’s the company that is tearing Notch out of Minecraft while continually building the game up. In the decades to come, Microsoft will get the credit for establishing Minecraft as a time-tested pop-culture icon.
2019 is the 10th anniversary of Minecraft, one of the biggest games in the world. As part of its ongoing celebration, publisher Microsoft revealed today that lifetime sales of Minecraft have surpassed 176 million copies across consoles, PC, and mobile. It also said that developer Mojang is working on a new game in the beloved franchise. No, it’s not Minecraft 2. But it has the potential to be bigger than that.
Minecraft Earth is a free-to-play augmented reality game for iOS and Android that transports the familiar block-building gameplay into the real world. You’ll gather resources, fight against mobs (Minecraft’s deadly monsters), and interact with other people’s creations. Mojang will launch a closed beta this summer, and you can sign up for it here.
In a blog post, Microsoft said Minecraft Earth is using the company’s Azure Spatial Anchors AR tracking technology and integrates with its backend platform PlayFab.
If the worldwide success of Niantic’s Pokémon Go is anything to go by, Minecraft Earth should have no trouble finding a dedicated audience — just think of the millions of children who grew up with the original game. Minecraft is also known for having absurdly creative players who build the most intricate sculptures, and giving them the tools to put their creations into AR is an exciting prospect.
It’ll be a busy summer for Mojang. In addition to running the Minecraft Earth beta, the developer will be preparing to host its annual Minecon livestream (which use to be a physical conference) on September 28.
That’s usually the time where Mojang reveals big new updates about Minecraft, and assuming Minecraft Earth isn’t out yet, perhaps we’ll hear more about the new mobile game as well.
Above: Hard to believe that the game came out in 2009.Image Credit: Mojang
A strong but complicated legacy
Before Fortnite took the crown, Minecraft was gaming’s biggest pop culture phenomenon, leading to the creation of spinoffs, a boatload of toys, and other miscellaneous merchandise. More than 91 million people still play the game every month. A lot of streaming and YouTube personalities built their careers off creating videos that chronicle their Minecraft adventures.
The game’s ubiquity is one big reason for its success. While Minecraft originally launched on PC, it’s now available on practically every modern platform, including virtual reality headsets like Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR. The Minecraft Marketplace, where players can sell their fancy builds, also provides fresh content on a consistent basis.
Most of this expansion came after Microsoft bought the game and Mojang from original creator Markus “Notch” Persson for $2.5 billion in 2014. As GamesBeat PC Gaming editor Jeff Grubb wrote in March, the reclusive developer has turned into a “bizarre internet creep” who regularly espouses conspiracy theories on social media.
But with the recent removal of Notch’s name from Minecraft’s splash screen (he’s still in the credits), Microsoft has been slowly trying to distance itself away from him. And that’s for the best, especially as the company prepares to launch another potentially lucrative version of the game.
The Minecraft Marketplace had another huge month thanks to its Spring Sale. Players zipped into the store for 7,409,421 downloads. That’s approximately double March’s 3,705,978 downloads.
For the Spring Sale, Microsoft invited fans to get up to 75% off the various items in the Marketplace. It ran from April 19 through April 21, and seems like another big success for building the Minecraft Marketplace brand.
Here’s how the download and revenue charts sorted out:
Get the full lifestyle experience with luxury apartments, office buildings, and even vehicles you can drive. Pick your perfect home or take in the sights. Customize your world with brand new models, blocks, and textures. Comes with 30 free skins.
2. Pet Shop by PixelHeads
Welcome to Pet Shop! Choose between 17 lovely pets. Explore a town and earn coins by collecting poop or by catching stray animals. Play fetch with dogs, trim a poodle, or take a snake for a walk!
3. Dragons by InPVP
Take one of six dragons to the skies and become a legendary dragon rider! Surprise your enemies with custom attacks. Shoot fireballs and drop TNT. Explore three huge castles and the beautiful custom landscape.
4. Luxury Life by PixelHeads
Luxury Life is a world where you role-play life as a billionaire. Cruise the streets in a sports car or any of the 10 other vehicles, explore luxurious mansions and decorate with furniture!
5. Springtime by CubeCraft
Spring is here! Dress up as a cute Easter bunny or choose from a variety of pastel colored outfits – even onesies!
6. Dinosaur Island by PixelHeads
Overrun by prehistoric beasts after the scientists lost control of their genetic experiments, explore and discover the hidden mysteries of this intriguing island.
7. City Life by PixelHeads
Cruise through the big city in City Life! Chase down a bandit in your police car, save the day as a firefighter, or take your dog for a walk.
8. Steven Universe Mash-Up by Minecraft
Steven enters the Minecraft universe in this Diamond-worthy Mash-up! Contains Steven Universe themed skins, textures, original music from the show, and all your favorite locations, from Beach City to Homeworld.
9. City Mash-Up by Everbloom Studios
With over 1,000 hand-detailed rooms, there are stories, secrets, and mini-games around every corner. Build with the city’s full texture pack in your own worlds or take on any role you can imagine!
10. Dreamlife by Shapescape
Welcome to your Dreamlife! Get a tan at the beach, go shopping at the city mall with your friends, relax at the pool, or tear up the neighborhood in your own monster truck. Dress up fancy, sporty, or casual with our 12 included free skins.
Get the full lifestyle experience with luxury apartments, office buildings, and even vehicles you can drive. Pick your perfect home or take in the sights. Customize your world with brand new models, blocks, and textures. Comes with 30 free skins.
2. Pet Shop by PixelHeads
Welcome to Pet Shop! Choose between 17 lovely pets. Explore a town and earn coins by collecting poop or by catching stray animals. Play fetch with dogs, trim a poodle, or take a snake for a walk!
3. Dragons by InPVP
Take one of six dragons to the skies and become a legendary dragon rider! Surprise your enemies with custom attacks. Shoot fireballs and drop TNT. Explore three huge castles and the beautiful custom landscape.
4. Luxury Life by PixelHeads
Luxury Life is a world where you role-play life as a billionaire. Cruise the streets in a sports car or any of the 10 other vehicles, explore luxurious mansions, and decorate with furniture!
5. City Mash-Up by Everbloom Studios
With over 1,000 hand-detailed rooms, there are stories, secrets, and minigames around every corner. Build with the city’s full texture pack in your own worlds or take on any role you can imagine!
6. Steven Universe Mash-Up by Minecraft
Steven enters the Minecraft universe in this Diamond-worthy Mash-up! Contains Steven Universe themed skins, textures, original music from the show, and all your favorite locations, from Beach City to Homeworld.
7. Dinosaur Island by PixelHeads
Overrun by prehistoric beasts after the scientists lost control of their genetic experiments, explore and discover the hidden mysteries of this intriguing island.
8. The Nightmare Before Christmas by Minecraft
A nightmare? Before Christmas? Enjoy this themed pack by Minecraft.
9. City Life by PixelHeads
Cruise through the big city in City Life! Chase down a bandit in your police car, save the day as a firefighter or take your dog for a walk.
10. Advanced Farming by Gamemode One
Farm your heart out with new machines, vehicles, animals, pets, vendors, characters, and lands to explore. This peaceful and relaxing roleplay countryside experience also includes custom sounds and music!
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In “10 Years of Minecraft,” players get to experience a virtual walkthrough of the game’s history. In certain parts of the world, you can see what the game looked like when it began, get a look at all of the mobs, and interact with various Redstone machinery.
Let’s get to the charts, which only include paid content this month. Obviously, “10 Years of Minecraft” would top the list if it included free content as well.
Top 10 most downloaded
6. Lucky Block Race10
5. Furniture Shapescape
1. City Living by Noxcrew
Get the full lifestyle experience with luxury apartments, office buildings, and even drivable vehicles. Pick your perfect home, or take in the sights. Customize your world with brand new models, blocks, & textures. Comes with 30 free skins.
2. Furniture: Modern by Spark Squared
Decorate your home with over 350 furniture options. Mod your living room, bedroom, kitchen, and even your garden! Design your dream house like never before.
3. Dragons by InPVP
Take one of six dragons to the skies and become a legendary dragon rider! Surprise your enemies with custom attacks. Shoot fireballs and drop TNT. Explore three huge castles and the beautiful custom landscape.
4. Pet Shop by PixelHeads
Welcome to Pet Shop! Choose between 17 lovely pets. Explore a town and earn coins by collecting poop or by catching stray animals. Play fetch with dogs, trim a poodle or take a snake for a walk!
5. Furniture by Shapescape
Take your creative building and roleplaying to the next level by bringing some new furniture into your home! Load up the moving truck with all your latest purchases from the warehouse, drive home and live the luxury life.
6. Lucky Block Race by Volcano
The classic we all love is here and is better than ever! Race with your friends in the fun-packed Lucky Block Race. The rules are simple; if you’re the luckiest, then you’re our winner!
7. Luxury Life by PixelHeads
Luxury Life is a world where you role-play life as a billionaire. Cruise the streets in a sports car or any of the 10 other vehicles, explore luxurious mansions and decorate with furniture!
8. City Mash-Up by Everbloom Studios
With over 1,000 hand-detailed rooms, there are stories, secrets, and mini-games around every corner. Build with the city’s full texture pack in your own worlds or take on any role you can imagine!
9. Dinosaur Island by PixelHeads
Overrun by prehistoric beasts after the scientists lost control of their genetic experiments, explore and discover the hidden mysteries of this intriguing island.
10. Zombie Apocalypse by Pixelheads
The Zombie Apocalypse is here! Explore a run-down, overgrown city taken over by cyborg zombies. To survive, you must scavenge for food and weapons, and fight off the zombies.
Top 10 highest grossing
6. Furniture Shapescape
5. Pet Shop
1. Furniture: Modern by Spark Squared
Decorate your home with over 350 furniture options. Mod your living room, bedroom, kitchen, and even your garden! Design your dream house like never before.
2. Lucky Block Race by Volcano
The classic we all love is here and is better than ever! Race with your friends in the fun-packed Lucky Block Race. The rules are simple; if you’re the luckiest, then you’re our winner!
3. Dragons by InPVP
Take one of six dragons to the skies and become a legendary dragon rider! Surprise your enemies with custom attacks. Shoot fireballs and drop TNT. Explore three huge castles and the beautiful custom landscape.
4. City Living by Noxcrew
Get the full lifestyle experience with luxury apartments, office buildings, and even drivable vehicles. Pick your perfect home or take in the sights. Customize your world with brand new models, blocks, & textures. Comes with 30 free skins.
5. Pet Shop by PixelHeads
Welcome to Pet Shop! Choose between 17 lovely pets. Explore a town and earn coins by collecting poop or by catching stray animals. Play fetch with dogs, trim a poodle or take a snake for a walk!
6. Furniture by Shapescape
Take your creative building and roleplaying to the next level by bringing some new furniture into your home! Load up the moving truck with all your latest purchases from the warehouse, drive home and live the luxury life.
7. Epic Sky Block by Razzleberries
A lone island in the sky brings the most extreme survival challenge ever. With no resources, only skill and wit can save you from a certain demise!
8. Luxury Life by PixelHeads
Luxury Life is a world where you role-play life as a billionaire. Cruise the streets in a sports car or any of the 10 other vehicles, explore luxurious mansions and decorate with furniture!
9. Mineville Hotel Resort by InPvP
It’s time for a vacation. You deserve it! Join us today at the beautiful Hotel Resort, where all your wishes will come true. Enjoy an all-inclusive trip (free breakfast)!
10. Millionaire’s Luxury Boat by Nitric Concepts
Sail into your new luxurious mansion with a multi floor yacht! Explore the town or sail the seas with 6 colors of jet skis to fit your style. Inhabit the coastal mansions or build your own dream house over the ocean.
