453K Copies of Minecraft Sold on Christmas Day

By Kevin Parrish
published

Minecraft sells big on Christmas Day says Mojang.

Mojang co-founder and Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson said via Twitter that across all five platforms – PC, Mac, iOS, Android and Xbox 360 – the company's popular world building game sold 453,000 units on December 25 alone.

As of December 13, the Minecraft franchise had sold over 17.5 million copies, 5 million of which stemmed from Minecraft: Pocket Edition for the iOS and Android platforms. The PC and Mac versions were the dominant sales, pushing 8.3 million units whereas the Xbox Live Arcade version sold 4.48 million copies.

Fans interested in getting an inside look at the development of Minecraft can now purchase 2Player Productions' Minecraft: The Story of Mojang, the official Minecraft documentary. It's offered in two formats: a $20 limited edition DVD set, and an $8 DRM-free digital download. The soundtrack is also up for sale for $7, composed by C418.

"Minecraft: The Story of Mojang is a feature-length documentary that follows the young company over the course of its first year as their profile expanded across the world stage and into the homes of millions of gamers," reads the product description. "Featuring insights from industry icons (Peter Molyneux, Tim Schafer), journalists (Geoff Keighley, Stephen Totilo), tastemakers (Gabe & Tycho of Penny Arcade), and players profoundly impacted by the game (Yogscast, The Shaft, Minecraft Teacher), the film serves as a time capsule for one of this generation's most unorthodox success stories."

"During the editing of what was supposed to be a twenty-minute short, it became clear that an important chapter of gaming history was still being written, and that a feature-length documentary about Mojang's first year would make a powerful statement about what it means to create, release, and play games in the twenty-first century," 2Player Productions said.

Minecraft originally launched as an alpha on the PC in May 2009, and then finally went "retail" in November 2011. The mobile version eventually landed on the Android-based Xperia Play smartphone as Minecraft: Pocket Edition during E3 2011 and later on Google Play in October 2011, followed by an iOS release in November 2011. The Xbox 360 version, co-developed by 4J Studios, didn't crash the console scene until May 2012.

Kevin Parrish
19 Comments Comment from the forums
  • chimera201
    What is the world coming to?

    I would make a world in my own game and sell it rather than making a world in someone else's game that is bought.

    This just proves that there are way too many casual players with low end pcs.
    Reply
  • reprotected
    The Android version is better than the iOS version.
    Reply
  • apache_lives
    chimera201What is the world coming to?I would make a world in my own game and sell it rather than making a world in someone else's game that is bought.This just proves that there are way too many casual players with low end pcs.
    the game actually need decent amounts of cpu and ram to play well
    Reply
  • captainblacko
    chimera201What is the world coming to?I would make a world in my own game and sell it rather than making a world in someone else's game that is bought.This just proves that there are way too many casual players with low end pcs.
    Have you tried it?
    Reply
  • infernocy
    chimera201What is the world coming to?I would make a world in my own game and sell it rather than making a world in someone else's game that is bought.This just proves that there are way too many casual players with low end pcs.
    That my friend is totally wrong .. minecraft needs a hell lots of ram to run and good cpu power ..
    also if you go to minecraft forums you can see that this game increased java development cos a lot of kids are creating their own mods

    Reply
  • infernocy
    damn you tom when are going to add an edit button
    Reply
  • wardoc22
    Well someone is rich
    Reply
  • Darkerson
    chimera201What is the world coming to?I would make a world in my own game and sell it rather than making a world in someone else's game that is bought.This just proves that there are way too many casual players with low end pcs.
    The game is actually rather deceptive and needs a decent amount of CPU/GPU power to be played smoothly, especially if you start adding in high res texture packs, various mods, or to run a decently sized server. But im sure you actually knew that, and were just looking for a way to make some snarky, asinine comment.

    infernocydamn you tom when are going to add an edit button
    See up top, right after the comment section starts?

    "Read the comments on the forums"

    Click on that, and in the forums, you can edit your comments.
    Reply
  • CrArC
    chimera201What is the world coming to?I would make a world in my own game and sell it rather than making a world in someone else's game that is bought.This just proves that there are way too many casual players with low end pcs. You have demonstrated a complete lack of knowledge of what is required to "make a world in my own game and sell it", and simultaneously missed the point of Minecraft entirely. Well done.
    Reply
  • mazty
    apache_livesthe game actually need decent amounts of cpu and ram to play wellProof that it's a badly coded pile of shit.
    Minecraft is just the autistic version of farmville & it's just as good for gaming as farmville. It's nothing but a worthless time sink that autists get hooked on - meth for autists if you will.
    Reply