It goes without saying how popular Minecraft is among gamers, but it's now known just how much success the game has had.
Microsoft and game developer Mojang announced on Thursday that Minecraft has sold more than 100 million copies since the sandbox video game was first released in 2011.
To put this into perspective, Minecraft had just sold more than 50 million units by the fall of 2014 when Microsoft acquired Mojang for $2.5 billion. Since the beginning of 2016 alone, more than 53,000 copies of the video game have been sold on average.
This milestone makes Minecraft one of the most successful video games of all time — actually the second best-selling video game ever across platforms. With more than 100 million copies sold to date, Minecraft holds this honor just behind the popular puzzle game Tetris, which sold more than 400 million.
"We'd like to offer our heartfelt thanks to every one of you who's bought Minecraft over the past few years, no matter which platform you play on," Mojang wrote in a blog post. "We're constantly in awe of our community and the amazing things you achieve together."
Minecraft allows gamers to mine, build (using 3D blocks) and explore open worlds, enabling players to tap into their imagination and create just about anything their hearts desire. Players have built everything from replicas of real-life cities to fictional places and their own Joker-themed lands. The game is available on PC, console and mobile.
To celebrate reaching this major 100 million milestone across platforms, Mojang created an infographic that reveals more information about the copies sold. In the U.S., 41 percent of gamers play Minecraft on mobile, compared to 40 percent who prefer consoles and 10 percent PC. In Europe, 36 percent play Minecraft: Pocket Edition, whereas 35 percent play on console and 29 percent on PC.
Those who play Minecraft: Console Edition can look forward to the addition of mini-games that will roll out as part of a new update this month.
According to Mojang, more than 40 million people each month play Minecraft. The game has even been sold in Antarctica to make sure that the community consists of gamers from every country and territory on the planet.
Source: Mojang
