Minecraft passes 200 million copies sold

Minecraft key art (Image credit: Microsoft / Mojang Studios)

What you need to know

Microsoft shared the news today that Minecraft has crossed 200 million copies sold.
Minecraft previously sold 122 million copies as of February 2017.
Yesterday, Minecraft developer Mojang rebranded as Mojang Studios, with plans to expand.
Minecraft Dungeons, a hack-and-slash RPG set in the aesthetic of Minecraft, is set to release on May 26.

Minecraft has been an utter sales juggernaut, selling over 122 million copies back in February 2017. The blocks of cash keep on stacking though, as today Microsoft shared the news that Minecraft has sold over 200 million copies. This even further solidifies Minecraft's position as the best-selling game of all time, with only Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto V even being in the same league at over 120 million copies sold.

Mojang was acquired by Microsoft in back in 2014. Yesterday, Mojang shared the news that it had rebranded as Mojang Studios, unifying the dual studios in Redmond, Washington and Stockholm, Sweden. Mojang Studios also plans to explore new game projects and open additional studios in new locations.

Meanwhile, hack-and-slash RPG Minecraft Dungeons is set to release on May 26 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC and Nintendo Switch.

A gaming masterpiece

Minecraft

Available everywhere you play.

Minecraft is a veritable, inarguable and complete success. It has sold copies in the hundreds of millions, has a huge following of dedicated players, and lets you unlock your every creative desire. It's also available on every platform imaginable, including Xbox One, Windows 10, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS. Play with anyone, and play anywhere.

Xbox (opens in new tab)

Main

Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on Xbox and PC gaming on Windows Central. You can find him on Twitter @SamuelTolbert.

12 Comments

200 million copies sold for just one game and people think that Microsoft isn't making money in the gaming division. I know it's sold on every platform that exists, but you can't deny the selling power of this one game and Microsoft has no middle man to pay. This is all their money because they own the dev that makes it. Even though this type of game is not my cup of tea, it's best gaming acquisition they ever made.
Yes, the ending of your statement fits my feelings on the game as well. It was never my kind of game, and never saw the point. Obviously it was a great decision. I probably will never play it, but WOW, 200 million is incredible.
I'm in the same boat. I doesn't float my boat, but some people like it.
I'm one of those people. I play regularly, nearly always in solo mode because I don't want other players modifying my creations. I play in Survival so I can stay wary while finding a great location, securing supplies and building my mansions. Tremendous hand-eye coordination isn't a requirement for Minecraft and that suits me better, although I've also enjoyed other genres like Tomb Raider and Metro.
I once tried it for about 5 minutes and realized it wasn't for me. But to be fair, I started gaming in the Atari 2600 gaming era. I have no desire to play games where characters are block shaped or pixely sprites in this day and age. I experienced that enough way back then. I guess that's why I don't get the whole retro console gaming phenom going on right now.
Not my kind of game yet I bought it on both console and android many years ago... Go figure 🤷‍♂️
You do understand that 200m copies sold is over a period of around 10 years or so. When MS bought them they already sold more than 60m. You do know MS paid $2.5b to buy this.
You think MS is actually making money? Well the thing is that unlike Sony or Nintendo, they never actually publish the profit or loss. For me that says a lot. This is like how they just keep changing metric... Probably not to communicated negative results but only communicates on the positives, but ofc you are free to believe what you want...
@Guest If they sold 140 million copies at $20 (isn't the game more than this?) a piece that is 2.8 billion dollars. That's already money made. Also, this isn't counting any other marketing deals the franchise has done for 3rd party products. Wasn't there toys or a lego deal that was made?
It's always a competition with some folks. MS and Sony compete in consoles and Sony sold far more of these than MS did so that is the only metric that matters to fanboys. MS and Sony are partners in cloud and AI efforts and despite not selling more consoles, MS Is not exactly a slouch in gaming with games on PC as well as Xbox, game pass, and Xcloud coming. Mojang has certainly benefited from being part of Microsoft with Minecraft's reach going much further than they could have achieved on their own. Marketing is one area, but there are others as well. Only some of that $2.5 billion is counted as costs to Mojang. A substantial portion went to pay off Notch and perhaps others who were around at the beginning. I bet Minecraft's brand is worth far more than what MS paid for it already.
Pay "unwanted guest" no mind. He can't stand to hear any good news concerning Microsoft gaming division. he strikes me as a kind of person that runs to Google immediately when good news comes up from Microsoft, hits the search button and tries to find something negative to offset what was just revealed. Tis the way of a troll.
@Danny
LOL yes pay no attention because I made a mockery of your silly comment that didn't make any sense.
Good or bad news for company doesn't really matter to me. I'm no company fanboy. But when silly company fanboys talk rubbish I'm here to correct them.
Bye
I love the game. Just my family contributed with five copies. Java Edition, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows 10 and Windows Phone. I play it with kids every weekend. Many years ago, I was teaching them the game, nowadays they teach me.

Show more comments