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Minecraft is a game that is so ubiquitous around the world that one could say that it has become a household name. One way to understand its popularity is to look at its gradual progression from being a bare-bones sandbox to becoming a full-fledged franchise. The Minecraft timeline is full of updates, platform ports, and other spin-offs of the original game that all contribute in part its success.
For the scarce number of people unaware of what Minecraft is, it's a game owned by Mojang Studios best described as a wilderness survival sandbox, where the player builds to survive and then eventually thrive in their environment. The world of Minecraft exists in a 3-dimensional space where every unit of material is represented as a cube on a tightly packed grid, which can be destroyed for resources to construct buildings and equipment.
These resources are scattered across a randomly generated landscape, including premade villages populated by villagers and mineshafts full of monsters, for the player to sift through. Over the years, the survival mechanics and resource variability has been enhanced through a litany of updates that can be brought together in a comprehensive timeline.
In the beginning, Minecraft was known as "Cave Game" to creator Notch, or Markus Persson, who ran the then indie game company Mojang. In May 2009, Notch released the pre-alpha build known as Minecraft Classic to the public, and it was nothing more than a builder with a couple of block types. Eventually, Classic was given a multiplayer mode for players to show off their creations, and more blocks were slowly added to the game, giving players more flexibility. In October 2009, the skeleton of a survival mode was added to Minecraft to test enemies like spiders, as well as new blocks like TNT.
In June of 2010, Minecraft finally made it to an Alpha build, where Redstone and an independent launcher was introduced. The independent browser would supplant the original internet browser version of the game until it was re-released as Minecraft Classic in 2019.
Mojang continued to add objects, and a survival multiplayer mode, over the course of the year, until it brought Minecraft to its Beta stage in December. The Beta continued to add content well into 2011, which gave the game beds, maps, weather, hunger, experience, generated structures, and a ton of other new things. The final update for Beta, known as the Adventure Update, set the groundwork for Version 1.0 to add The End, which finally gave Minecraft a boss fight and a way to finish the game.
On November 18, 2011, Minecraft finally moves out of Beta and into the 1.0 build. After Minecraft became a solidified game, Mojang immediately moved to begin porting the game to other operating systems and consoles. In fact, Mojang began work on the iOS port for Minecraft a day before Minecraft 1.0. Three months later, Android got the same treatment, as well as the Xbox 360 in 2012, Raspberry Pi in 2013, and Playstation 3 in late 2013. Once ports had been made for consoles and operating systems of the time, Mojang felt it necessary to port it to all major and minor platforms that would be released in the coming years, including VR support for Minecraft.
Between 2011 and 2020, there were 16 major updates that represent the bulk of the changes that Mojang has made to Minecraft. Version 1.1 released in early 2012, adding spawn eggs and reintroducing the beach biome. March 2012 saw the release of Version 1.2, which added new jungle blocks, as well as iron golems and zombie sieges.
Version 1.3 introduced trading with villagers through emeralds and added pyramids in biomes. Version 1.4 was the last update of 2012, and the first named update, being called "the Pretty Scary Update." Version 1.4 added many things, including the Wither boss and the anvil, which repairs enchanted items. The Redstone Update (1.5) was released in March of 2013 and gave one of the biggest changes to Minecraft by giving the Redstone system an overhaul, while also giving players a streamlined system to set up servers using Minecraft Realms.
The Horse Update (1.6) came in July 2013, with mounts like horses and donkeys, as well as a new attribute system for items and enemies. The Update that Changed the World (1.7) was released in October 2013 and added a total of 31 biomes to the game, as well as various unique resources to populate those biomes.
The Bountiful Update (1.8) of 2014 added some new blocks, but most notably it created the spectator mode and more commands for players to create adventure maps more easily.
The Combat Update (1.9), the first of 3 updates in 2016, gave the combat system a complete makeover and also added a ton of content to the End. The Frostburn Update (1.10) added new mobs like polar bears and fossils as well as an auto-jump feature to make scaling inclines easier for players. The Exploration Update (1.11) created new villager professions, new mobs, and biome structures like woodland mansions.
Going forward, major updates to Minecraft were mostly on a yearly basis, the first being the World of Color Update (1.12) in 2017, which gave the color pallet of the game more vibrancy by adding more colorful blocks and parrots. Update Aquatic (1.13) released in 2018, and its purpose was to populate the water biomes with new flora, fauna, and shipwrecks to make them more than just barren wastelands of sand and squid.
Village & Pillage (1.14) and Buzzy Bees (1.15) were both released in 2019, and between them, they added 8 new mobs – including bees, cats, and pillagers – while also creating a ton of new blocks like barrels and smithing tables. The most recent update, the Nether Update (1.16), was released
in June of this year, and as the name implies, its purpose was to add a ton of new content to the Nether biome.
Knowing now that, with the exception of 2015, Mojang never stopped adding major content updates to Minecraft, it becomes easy to see why Minecraft is such a popular game. Many players who have observed this timeline have confidence in Mojang because they understand that Mojang won't abandon Minecraft, and in fact, there is another major update that will be revealed in October.
Marcus' Notch' Persson is the father of Minecraft. He was working at King game development in 2011 when he had a spark of creativity, beginning to develop his own games in his own time.
While at King and later at jAlbum game development, Notch learned to code in several different languages and created the early versions of Minecraft, one of which was known as "cave game".
The first concept of Minecraft was 'RubyDung,' a base-building game influenced by the building and creation game Dwarf Fortress. However, as shown in the 2Player productions documentary about the history of Minecraft, Minecraft: The Story of Mojang, RubyDug was only meant to be a 6-12 month project that blossomed into the Minecraft we know today.
Taking inspiration from the recent release of the game Infiniminer, Notch established a first-person preference and the unmistakable blocky aesthetic. In May of 2009, Notch initially developed the original edition of Minecraft (Minecraft Java Edition).
A test video of the Minecraft Java Edition was released on YouTube in the same month. Then, over a single weekend, Notch created the programming of the base
Minecraft game, releasing it to private playtesters on TigIRC on May 16th.
The very next day, Minecraft was released to the public on the TigIRC forums, and with the feedback received from this release, Notch would go on to incorporate changes into subsequent updates.
Once Minecraft classic had it's official release, developmental updates followed, with the first three being 'Survival Test,' 'Indev,' and 'Infdev.' These were released in 2009 and 2010, respectively, and finally, the first significant game update, 'Minecraft Alpha' was released on June 30th, 2010.
In the 2Player Productions documentary, Notch says of the game's release for sale to the public: "When the first million Swedish Kronor (came into) the account, it was definitely one of the bigger (like) milestones."
Dubbed 'obsessively addictive,' the game's sales skyrocketed, and Notch quit his job at jAlbum.net to focus on the further development of Minecraft into beta phase.
While he released further updates for Minecraft, which were automatically distributed to owners of the game (including new blocks, game mechanics, game modes and bug fixes), Notch founded Mojang.
On December 20th, 2010, after more work by Mojang, Notch released Minecraft in its bets stage, with bug fixes and updates being released for free as the previous had been.
On the fateful day of November 18th, 2011, the full version of Minecraft was released, pulling it out of beta testing. However, there were more changes to come as Jens' Jeb' Bergensten came into Mojang to take over full creative control of Minecraft and would replace Notch as the lead designer.
Development of the game continued, with updates constantly being released. In addition, Mojang brought in more game developers of the 'Bukkit API for the development of server support. On September 15th, 2014, Notch became one of Forbes' 'World Billionaires' with one single sale.
Microsoft made the purchase of Mojang and Minecraft for $2.5 Billion, taking over the company and the game in its entirety. This was huge, and as the company and game had grown, Notch explains why the sale felt right in the 2Player Productions documentary: "I'd rather work on something smaller, as I made Minecraft for myself...".
Despite winning academy awards for Minecraft and attracting the attention of not only Microsoft but Activision Blizzard and EA, the sale was made, and Notch retired to create more games on a smaller, more personal scale.
Since the first adventure update release, Minecraft classic version continued
to be developed, tweaked, and updated with major and minor changes by the developers at Mojang, which were all released for free.
Between 2012 and 2013, updates to the adventure version (1.1, 1.2, etc.) were released, with the first named update after this being the 'Pretty Scary Update' added at the end of 2012, which added Halloween-themed enemies such as witches, added the Wither boss, various items and decorations.
This development timeline continued, with named updates being released from then on:
There are now several different variants of Minecraft for almost every platform imaginable. Everything from mobile to Xbox to Playstation has a Minecraft variant, and dozens of modifications and expansions to the game make the sky the limit.
This edition was ported to Windows after Microsoft bought Mojang, but it began its life in 2011 after its release on the Android market, then on other devices later that year.
Minecraft Bedrock edition is the cross-platform, alternate-console version of Minecraft: Java edition and only has a few minor differences. Developed in 2011, Minecraft Bedrock was a version coded in the C++ coding language and, as such, has a broader range of playability (and cross platform play) than Minecraft Java.
Minecraft Story Mode is a Minecraft spinoff game that ran for two seasons, released in 2015 and 2017 for series one and two, respectively. This game was a point-and-click adventure game styled as an interactive story with a linear storyline based on the Minecraft character 'Steve.'
Minecraft Earth was developed and released in 2019. It was a futuristic project released for Virtual reality (VR) capable consoles and mobiles, using augmented reality elements to allow players to construct in real-time around them, then let them explore their creations.
Minecraft Dungeons is a dungeon-crawler, semi-top-down game based on Minecraft's exploration and combat elements. Developed in 2020, it uses isolated dungeons and enemies to give the game a fresh take, concentrating on fighting skeletons and zombies rather than crafting.
There were many versions of Minecraft released for individual consoles:
All these versions were finally updated in December 2018 before being shelved as legacy console versions. All later versions of Minecraft, such as Minecraft for Nintendo Switch, Minecraft for Xbox One, or Playstation 4, are based on the Bedrock version for cross-playability.
Minecraft education edition was designed specifically for schools, with integrated chemistry resource packs, lesson plans available on the Minecraft website, and game modes released solely on this version. This edition of Minecraft was released in its entirety (including on the Chromebook) in 2020.
Minecraft continues to expand today, with the user base modifying the game code to produce entire map packs, skins and textures. Mojang also releases official texture packs and skins from time to time, expanding on the Minecraft universe more and more with each addition.
Marcus Persson, also known as Notch, released what he initially called “Cave Game” back in 2009. This was released on the PC and was attractive to people who liked to code and design gaming worlds. It was more of a source tool than a game for most people at that point, and users could go in and create what they wasted using the basic blocks that had been set up by Persson.
Once this small project started to take off, the creator released it in an updated format as Minecraft, but that is still a far cry from the game we know today on PC and consoles. It was very basic, for the most part, but early versions of Minecraft allowed for more than just building. What made the game so unique is that it was also a resource management simulation. It allowed players to gather the resources they needed to create, so the creations meant more to them since they had to build them with parts they had collected on their own.
You can see the influence of this mechanic in games all over today. Other games had players gathering resources before, but not usually to directly build something block by block with their own digital hands. Now games like Skyrim, Terraria, and many others have incorporated a rather simple mechanic like this in their games and as part of different genres and experiences.
Players could also fight monsters around the world, craft items that they could use (and not just structures) and explore a vast world. As mentioned earlier, that world just kept getting bigger.
Minecraft stayed in beta for a long time, longer than most games ever do. There was speculation that it would never come out of beta, as new features were always being added and the owner just kept tweaking the project as new ideas came to him and players made suggestions.
The early days of Minecraft were important for the modding scene. On PC, players often take their favorite games and modify them using programs they created themselves or that others created for everyone to use. These allow them to customize the game to their liking, add new quests or features and even update the graphics to some degree.
Minecraft has always been a simple looking game, with very basic block shapes making up the entire world and the graphics made to look like pixels. This allows it to do incredible things with its very limited visuals, and it can process user requests much faster than if it were using high-end graphics. It also allows changes to be made easily and at less expense than they would for a more modern looking game.
Before the end of 2009, several modes had been added to Minecraft. They include Survival, Indev, and Infdev. At this point, the game was still in its alpha stages.
The beta stage began in 2010, and the creator had stopped his daytime job to work full time on Minecraft, adding new features, updating the game and fixing bugs. While new versions other game cost money, all bug fixes were free during this development cycle.
The beta phase only began once publisher Mojang grew interested in the project and began to fund its development. They would eventually go on to release a full version of the game in 2011. It sold millions of copies and spawned a worldwide phenomenon, but there were still lots of change for Minecraft yet to come.
Once the game was published, new updates were still made, and bugs were being dealt with. New server hosts were put in place, allowing the game to run smoother and do a lot more with its processing power. The world expanded in size as players tried to travel across the seemingly endless digital space. It was designed to go on endlessly, and new areas were added to make the game more interesting.
The Nether and the End were added to the base world. The Nether was a Hell-like region that was only accessible by a portal. The End was a series of islands, on which the final boss of the game resided. Once the boss was defeated, the credits would roll, but players could continue to go back to their worlds and explore the game environment after beating the game.
Mojang put out a few different versions of Minecraft while they had the publishing rights, releasing a free to play version known as Classic Minecraft on the PC, along with the full version they had put most of their publishing power behind. Microsoft bought the game and the brand from them a few years later, though, and went into a publishing frenzy.
First of all, they put Minecraft onto their systems, the Xbox 360 and the Xbox One, later bringing the same game to the PlayStation and the Wii U. It’s even on mobile platforms and Windows 10 at this point, and Microsoft is showing no signs of slowing down with the publishing and development plans for Minecraft.
The game has expanded beyond its single-game roots. Microsoft tasked Telltale games with creating Minecraft Story Mode, which is a single player, story-based game that plays mostly like an interactive story.
An educational edition of the game was also released to be used in classrooms, and its focus was more on exploring and building than combat.
Microsoft continues to support the base Minecraft game, through releasing timely skin packs, which offer new looks for the major characters. Players can dress their characters up like holiday favorites, as well as pop culture icons, such as characters from Star Wars and Harry Potter. No matter what fanbase a person belongs to, they are likely to find Minecraft skins that will interest them. Dozens of these have been released already with more on the way all the time.
There have been whispers of a sequel for a long time. After all, this original game is almost a decade old at this point, and it makes sense that as one of the best-selling games of all time that it would receive follow up. So far, updates, remasters and spinoffs seem to be the only thing coming down the pipeline, and Microsoft is hesitant to dish out any concrete details on a sequel.
Everyone in the industry seems to feel that one will come, but they don’t know when. Microsoft is more concerned with protecting their brand and making the most of what they already have with this game than making a quick buck with the sequel. They paid good money for the brand and the game, so it makes sense that they will take their time with the sequel and make it something that will propel the brand forward for another decade, if necessary.
They are still making a lot of money off the base game, its many versions and the DLC (downloadable content) for the game. There is no rush to get a sequel out on store shelves when so many people are still spending money on the original.
Microsoft’s plans right now for Minecraft, at least as far as they have told anyone, is that they are prioritizing those platforms where the players are most heavily concentrated. So, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Windows 10 are all getting priority over other platforms where there are not as many players. Once the player base on other platforms grows, then those players will become a priority for Microsoft as well.
What this means for players on those consoles and platforms that Microsoft is actively supporting is that they will receive regular updates. They can enjoy features like Realms, which lets players rent a dedicated server. This will allow them to connect with friends and family without the host ever being
online and create a persistent world for them to play around in.
Microsoft has adopted a wait and see attitude for development on Minecraft. This is a new IP for them, and they are careful about how they are pushing to forward and where their development priorities need to be. They did pay a hefty 2.5 billion dollars for it a few years ago, and that’s not an investment
that should be taken lightly.
E3 2017 was the last place anyone was able to learn about some of the new additions to Minecraft, and we can expect more on this at the next E3 for sure. Microsoft showed off its Better Together update. What this does is allow players from the Switch, Xbox One and Windows 10 PC to all play together. This is almost unprecedented for a game that belongs to a console maker, and it’s very exciting how Microsoft has been willing to play nice with
everyone when to comes to inter-console connectivity.
The Super-Duper Graphics pack is another big change for Minecraft. It improves the graphics to never before seen heights and adds in all sorts of dynamic lighting effects. It dramatically changes the look of Minecraft without changing up the mechanics at all. This new downloadable pack makes the difference between night and day more aesthetically appealing and helps to set a mood for the game that wasn’t previously possible.
Players don’t have to worry about this changing up the classic look of Minecraft, though. This update is entirely optional, and players can keep the same look they have known and loved for years if they want. Microsoft is moving forward with updates like this with their focus on allowing players to play and
experience Minecraft anyway they want to.
Exposing the code for players is another feature that Microsoft is testing out with players. This allows Minecraft users to customize the game to their liking, altering mob behaviors and other aspects of how the game functions. There are no plans to allow players to customize the skins or the graphics in any way, and that’s understandable on Microsoft’s part. They know a lot of people would abuse that kind of power and make creations that are not in line
with the brand Microsoft is going for with Minecraft.
Minecraft is always changing. Not all of those changes will be required for everyone right away, but you can bet that a single version of the game will not stagnate for long. The developers just won’t allow it with such a well-known brand. You can bet that Microsoft has big plans for the franchise moving forward, but they are staying tightlipped about a sequel and spinoffs. We know that Minecraft Story Mode is likely to continue for a while, and the educational version of Minecraft used in schools is doing very well and will also continue for the foreseeable future. We also know that Microsoft plans to continue to update the current game for a while.
Microsoft has already been very clear that they have a 100-year plan with this franchise. At some point, that means a sequel will come down the line, but there is obviously no rush to disrupt the current user base beyond growing it and feeding it with new content for what they already have. We can expect big things from Minecraft in the coming years, but it’s hard to say right now exactly what form they will take.
Minecraft is one of the biggest games in the world, if not the biggest. How could a small indie game with no funding and only one developer become the phenomena it is today? Let's take a trip down memory lane together, and find out
If you're an avid Minecraft player, or know the way around the game, you can skip this part. Before we look through the history books, let's summarize how this epic game is played out. Minecraft is arguably the most influential of sandbox games. The player is dropped into a large randomized open world (actually infinite!) with biomes such as mountains, forests, caves, plains and oceans - with no specific goal or objective. Progression can only be reached through an Achievements system. The world consists of cubes, or blocks, which you can destroy, remove, build or replace. It also has a night/day cycle. Depending on the set difficulty level, players need to eat and defend themselves from hostile mobs during the night.
Through various Game Modes chosen at the start of each new game, players will experience a different adventure. If you just want to focus on building amazing things, you should choose Creative Mode. If you want a real adventure, boom, Adventure Mode is for you. If you want "the real deal" struggling
for survival, Survival Mode is the perfect fit. These various modes makes the game even more replayable.
The beginningAlright, now you know how the game is played out. It's time to learn how it all started. Minecraft is the brainchild of the Swedish programmer Markus "Notch" Persson who previously worked at the video game developers King and later jAlbum. Before laying all of his focus on Minecraft, Notch developed a few prototypes during his off-hours, inspired by popular games at the time. Among the prototypes were RubyDung, a base-building game, and Infiniminer, a block-based mining game. I think we all see how the ideas behind Minecraft were being formed.The first edition of Minecraft, called Java Edition, was made by Notch during a weekend in early May 2009. The game was initially released to the public in May 17 on the TIGSource forum, a forum for Independent game developers. After feedback from his peers, Notch updated the game to, which nowadays is called, the Classic version. A few more updates were released during the next couple of months, the Indev and Infdevs versions, before the first major update, Alpha, was released June 30 2010. It was around this time that Minecraft was beginning to pick up speed.
Notch quit his daytime job to solely focus on Minecraft. With the money earned from the game, he founded the now legendary video game company Mojang, together with his previous colleagues Carl Manneh and Jakob Porser. At this time, Minecraft was constantly updated and calibrated. New items, blocks, mobs, resources, game mechanics - and the much loved Survival Mode was added. In December 30, Minecraft entered the Beta-phase. In preparation for the full release, Mojang hired new employees as the game, and the amount of people who played it, grew at a rapid pace.
A vision takes over the worldThe full version of Minecraft was released on the 18 November 2011. And it was an immediate success. You didn't see that coming, right?! From this time on, Minecraft was really only heading one way. And that way was up. To focus on the direction of the game and taking a more overall lead, Notch stepped down as the Lead Designer and hired Jens "Jeb" Bergensten, who took full creative control of the game.
As the player base grew, so did Mojang. Tying up deals with more partners and developers was a must to support and push the limit of the ever increasing Minecraft. Over the next couple of years, several new editions and updates came out, including the "Adventure Update", "Pretty Scary Update" and "The Update that Changed the World". Slicker design, more types of mobs, biomes, objectives, items and game mechanics were added. One of the biggest allures of Minecraft was that it was constantly changing and updated - with more things to do and experience. Nothing has changed to this day.
After all the success and imprint of Minecraft in the hearts of so many gamers, Mojang and the ownership of Minecraft's intellectual property was bought by Microsoft in 2017, for almost a record amount. It was suggested by Notch himself on Twitter, looking for a corporation to buy his shares.Minecraft continued to develop and added more of literally everything. Boss fights, a much larger underground element, additional dimensions and areas. The game was introduced to various new consoles and platforms during the years. Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo, the Pocket Edition for mobile. Even virtual reality got a piece of the Minecraft cake. Basically, if you own an electronic media machine of any kind, you can play the game.
Game Modes and Spinoffs
Due to the popularity of Minecraft, several game modes and spinoffs were, and still are, being made - to keep the re-playability and freshness. Gamers play Minecraft for a variety of reasons - all with different goals and aims. Some like to focus on building amazing things in Creative Mode - the Eiffel Tower and Taj Mahal is among the ambitious creations. Some like to survive on the highest difficulty as long as possible in Survival Mode or Hardcore Mode. Some want to discover all the secrets and Easter eggs and some want a more story-based adventure in Adventure Mode. There're tons of things to do!
Minecraft is also highly customizable. The modding community has made a wide variety of new maps, mobs, items - everything you can think of! Another aspect of Minecraft is the Multiplayer Mode where several players can meet and play in a single world. Surviving by fighting off mobs and build stuff together sounds pretty fun, right?
Many spinoffs have also been made to the versatile game. A majority of them by or together with Mojang. The most famous spinoffs include Minecraft: Story Mode, an episode and story-driven standalone game developed by Telltale Games and Mojang. Minecraft Dungeons, a dungeon crawler where up to four people can hack and slash through various caves, exploring and finding treasures. And Minecraft Earth, where augmented reality is implemented into the world. Mojang and Microsoft sure knows how to freshen things up.
The train that keeps on goingNobody in their right mind could ever had predicted the massive cultural impact that Minecraft has had. Few games can boast the incredible rise, and more impressive, the constant relevance it has had since the beginning. The main game and its various spinoffs are played more than ever, and updates keeps them fresh in an ever-changing world. Minecraft has won multiple awards and has, more than once, been called "One of the most important games of the decade" by several acclaimed reviewers.
Critics have praised the original "blocky" graphics, the freedom to play precisely how the player chooses to, the enormous open world, the constant updates, mods and changes made, the complex crafting system, the ability to engage people of all ages, the transformations into mobile, console and virtual reality and perfect balance between an adventure game and sandbox. It's no wonder that Minecraft is reported to have been sold in over 200 million copies with over 125 million monthly active players. Crazy numbers right there.
As the early funding was player-based, Minecraft was one of the first indie games to truly use Youtube and other similar media platforms to market itself successfully. Many of today's biggest gaming influencers used Minecraft to exert themselves on their respective channels, to gather and sustain viewers. The story of Minecraft is a great example of synergy in the world of gaming.It's safe to say that, nowadays, Minecraft is more than just a game. Its impact on our society and the popularity it holds, has seen it being transformed into movies, documentaries, novels, physical merchandise and music. It is applicated in education, planning of infrastructure and habitat studies. Almost wherever we look, Minecraft's imprint is visible. So, the question is, what does the future hold for the phenomenon that is Minecraft?
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For the scarce number of people unaware of what Minecraft is, it's a game owned by Mojang Studios best described as a wilderness survival sandbox, where the player builds to survive and then eventually thrive in their environment. The world of Minecraft exists in a 3-dimensional space where every unit of material is represented as a cube on a tightly packed grid, which can be destroyed for resources to construct buildings and equipment.
These resources are scattered across a randomly generated landscape, including premade villages populated by villagers and mineshafts full of monsters, for the player to sift through. Over the years, the survival mechanics and resource variability has been enhanced through a litany of updates that can be brought together in a comprehensive timeline.
In the beginning, Minecraft was known as "Cave Game" to creator Notch, or Markus Persson, who ran the then indie game company Mojang. In May 2009, Notch released the pre-alpha build known as Minecraft Classic to the public, and it was nothing more than a builder with a couple of block types. Eventually, Classic was given a multiplayer mode for players to show off their creations, and more blocks were slowly added to the game, giving players more flexibility. In October 2009, the skeleton of a survival mode was added to Minecraft to test enemies like spiders, as well as new blocks like TNT.
In June of 2010, Minecraft finally made it to an Alpha build, where Redstone and an independent launcher was introduced. The independent browser would supplant the original internet browser version of the game until it was re-released as Minecraft Classic in 2019.
Mojang continued to add objects, and a survival multiplayer mode, over the course of the year, until it brought Minecraft to its Beta stage in December. The Beta continued to add content well into 2011, which gave the game beds, maps, weather, hunger, experience, generated structures, and a ton of other new things. The final update for Beta, known as the Adventure Update, set the groundwork for Version 1.0 to add The End, which finally gave Minecraft a boss fight and a way to finish the game.
On November 18, 2011, Minecraft finally moves out of Beta and into the 1.0 build. After Minecraft became a solidified game, Mojang immediately moved to begin porting the game to other operating systems and consoles. In fact, Mojang began work on the iOS port for Minecraft a day before Minecraft 1.0. Three months later, Android got the same treatment, as well as the Xbox 360 in 2012, Raspberry Pi in 2013, and Playstation 3 in late 2013. Once ports had been made for consoles and operating systems of the time, Mojang felt it necessary to port it to all major and minor platforms that would be released in the coming years, including VR support for Minecraft.
Between 2011 and 2020, there were 16 major updates that represent the bulk of the changes that Mojang has made to Minecraft. Version 1.1 released in early 2012, adding spawn eggs and reintroducing the beach biome. March 2012 saw the release of Version 1.2, which added new jungle blocks, as well as iron golems and zombie sieges.
Version 1.3 introduced trading with villagers through emeralds and added pyramids in biomes. Version 1.4 was the last update of 2012, and the first named update, being called "the Pretty Scary Update." Version 1.4 added many things, including the Wither boss and the anvil, which repairs enchanted items. The Redstone Update (1.5) was released in March of 2013 and gave one of the biggest changes to Minecraft by giving the Redstone system an overhaul, while also giving players a streamlined system to set up servers using Minecraft Realms.
The Horse Update (1.6) came in July 2013, with mounts like horses and donkeys, as well as a new attribute system for items and enemies. The Update that Changed the World (1.7) was released in October 2013 and added a total of 31 biomes to the game, as well as various unique resources to populate those biomes.
The Bountiful Update (1.8) of 2014 added some new blocks, but most notably it created the spectator mode and more commands for players to create adventure maps more easily.
The Combat Update (1.9), the first of 3 updates in 2016, gave the combat system a complete makeover and also added a ton of content to the End. The Frostburn Update (1.10) added new mobs like polar bears and fossils as well as an auto-jump feature to make scaling inclines easier for players. The Exploration Update (1.11) created new villager professions, new mobs, and biome structures like woodland mansions.
Going forward, major updates to Minecraft were mostly on a yearly basis, the first being the World of Color Update (1.12) in 2017, which gave the color pallet of the game more vibrancy by adding more colorful blocks and parrots. Update Aquatic (1.13) released in 2018, and its purpose was to populate the water biomes with new flora, fauna, and shipwrecks to make them more than just barren wastelands of sand and squid.
Village & Pillage (1.14) and Buzzy Bees (1.15) were both released in 2019, and between them, they added 8 new mobs – including bees, cats, and pillagers – while also creating a ton of new blocks like barrels and smithing tables. The most recent update, the Nether Update (1.16), was released
in June of this year, and as the name implies, its purpose was to add a ton of new content to the Nether biome.
Knowing now that, with the exception of 2015, Mojang never stopped adding major content updates to Minecraft, it becomes easy to see why Minecraft is such a popular game. Many players who have observed this timeline have confidence in Mojang because they understand that Mojang won't abandon Minecraft, and in fact, there is another major update that will be revealed in October.
THE EARLY STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
Marcus' Notch' Persson is the father of Minecraft. He was working at King game development in 2011 when he had a spark of creativity, beginning to develop his own games in his own time.
While at King and later at jAlbum game development, Notch learned to code in several different languages and created the early versions of Minecraft, one of which was known as "cave game".
The first concept of Minecraft was 'RubyDung,' a base-building game influenced by the building and creation game Dwarf Fortress. However, as shown in the 2Player productions documentary about the history of Minecraft, Minecraft: The Story of Mojang, RubyDug was only meant to be a 6-12 month project that blossomed into the Minecraft we know today.
Taking inspiration from the recent release of the game Infiniminer, Notch established a first-person preference and the unmistakable blocky aesthetic. In May of 2009, Notch initially developed the original edition of Minecraft (Minecraft Java Edition).
A test video of the Minecraft Java Edition was released on YouTube in the same month. Then, over a single weekend, Notch created the programming of the base
Minecraft game, releasing it to private playtesters on TigIRC on May 16th.
The very next day, Minecraft was released to the public on the TigIRC forums, and with the feedback received from this release, Notch would go on to incorporate changes into subsequent updates.
MINECRAFT CLASSIC IS BORN
Once Minecraft classic had it's official release, developmental updates followed, with the first three being 'Survival Test,' 'Indev,' and 'Infdev.' These were released in 2009 and 2010, respectively, and finally, the first significant game update, 'Minecraft Alpha' was released on June 30th, 2010.
In the 2Player Productions documentary, Notch says of the game's release for sale to the public: "When the first million Swedish Kronor (came into) the account, it was definitely one of the bigger (like) milestones."
Dubbed 'obsessively addictive,' the game's sales skyrocketed, and Notch quit his job at jAlbum.net to focus on the further development of Minecraft into beta phase.
While he released further updates for Minecraft, which were automatically distributed to owners of the game (including new blocks, game mechanics, game modes and bug fixes), Notch founded Mojang.
FULL VERSION RELEASE
On December 20th, 2010, after more work by Mojang, Notch released Minecraft in its bets stage, with bug fixes and updates being released for free as the previous had been.
On the fateful day of November 18th, 2011, the full version of Minecraft was released, pulling it out of beta testing. However, there were more changes to come as Jens' Jeb' Bergensten came into Mojang to take over full creative control of Minecraft and would replace Notch as the lead designer.
Development of the game continued, with updates constantly being released. In addition, Mojang brought in more game developers of the 'Bukkit API for the development of server support. On September 15th, 2014, Notch became one of Forbes' 'World Billionaires' with one single sale.
THE SALE OF MOJANG
Microsoft made the purchase of Mojang and Minecraft for $2.5 Billion, taking over the company and the game in its entirety. This was huge, and as the company and game had grown, Notch explains why the sale felt right in the 2Player Productions documentary: "I'd rather work on something smaller, as I made Minecraft for myself...".
Despite winning academy awards for Minecraft and attracting the attention of not only Microsoft but Activision Blizzard and EA, the sale was made, and Notch retired to create more games on a smaller, more personal scale.
THE SHOW GOES ON
Since the first adventure update release, Minecraft classic version continued
to be developed, tweaked, and updated with major and minor changes by the developers at Mojang, which were all released for free.
Between 2012 and 2013, updates to the adventure version (1.1, 1.2, etc.) were released, with the first named update after this being the 'Pretty Scary Update' added at the end of 2012, which added Halloween-themed enemies such as witches, added the Wither boss, various items and decorations.
This development timeline continued, with named updates being released from then on:
Name of Update | Year of Release |
Adventure Update | 2011 |
Pretty Scary Update | 2012 |
Redstone Update, Horse Update, The Update That Changed The World | 2013 |
Bountiful Update | 2014 |
Combat Update, Frostburn Update, Exploration Update | 2016 |
World of Color Update | 2017 |
Update: Aquatic | 2018 |
Villager and Pillager Update, Buzzy Bees Update | 2019 |
The Nether Update | 2020 |
Caves and Cliffs Part I Update, Caves and Cliffs Part II Update | 2021 |
The Wild Update | 2022 |
THE SAGA CONTINUES: MINECRAFT EDITIONS
There are now several different variants of Minecraft for almost every platform imaginable. Everything from mobile to Xbox to Playstation has a Minecraft variant, and dozens of modifications and expansions to the game make the sky the limit.
MINECRAFT: POCKET EDITION
This edition was ported to Windows after Microsoft bought Mojang, but it began its life in 2011 after its release on the Android market, then on other devices later that year.
MINECRAFT: BEDROCK EDITION
Minecraft Bedrock edition is the cross-platform, alternate-console version of Minecraft: Java edition and only has a few minor differences. Developed in 2011, Minecraft Bedrock was a version coded in the C++ coding language and, as such, has a broader range of playability (and cross platform play) than Minecraft Java.
MINECRAFT: STORY MODE
Minecraft Story Mode is a Minecraft spinoff game that ran for two seasons, released in 2015 and 2017 for series one and two, respectively. This game was a point-and-click adventure game styled as an interactive story with a linear storyline based on the Minecraft character 'Steve.'
MINECRAFT: EARTH
Minecraft Earth was developed and released in 2019. It was a futuristic project released for Virtual reality (VR) capable consoles and mobiles, using augmented reality elements to allow players to construct in real-time around them, then let them explore their creations.
MINECRAFT: DUNGEONS
Minecraft Dungeons is a dungeon-crawler, semi-top-down game based on Minecraft's exploration and combat elements. Developed in 2020, it uses isolated dungeons and enemies to give the game a fresh take, concentrating on fighting skeletons and zombies rather than crafting.
MINECRAFT: LEGACY CONSOLE EDITIONS
There were many versions of Minecraft released for individual consoles:
All these versions were finally updated in December 2018 before being shelved as legacy console versions. All later versions of Minecraft, such as Minecraft for Nintendo Switch, Minecraft for Xbox One, or Playstation 4, are based on the Bedrock version for cross-playability.
MINECRAFT: EDUCATION EDITION
Minecraft education edition was designed specifically for schools, with integrated chemistry resource packs, lesson plans available on the Minecraft website, and game modes released solely on this version. This edition of Minecraft was released in its entirety (including on the Chromebook) in 2020.
MODIFICATIONS: THE MODDING COMMUNITY
Minecraft continues to expand today, with the user base modifying the game code to produce entire map packs, skins and textures. Mojang also releases official texture packs and skins from time to time, expanding on the Minecraft universe more and more with each addition.
Minecraft Origins
Marcus Persson, also known as Notch, released what he initially called “Cave Game” back in 2009. This was released on the PC and was attractive to people who liked to code and design gaming worlds. It was more of a source tool than a game for most people at that point, and users could go in and create what they wasted using the basic blocks that had been set up by Persson.
Once this small project started to take off, the creator released it in an updated format as Minecraft, but that is still a far cry from the game we know today on PC and consoles. It was very basic, for the most part, but early versions of Minecraft allowed for more than just building. What made the game so unique is that it was also a resource management simulation. It allowed players to gather the resources they needed to create, so the creations meant more to them since they had to build them with parts they had collected on their own.
You can see the influence of this mechanic in games all over today. Other games had players gathering resources before, but not usually to directly build something block by block with their own digital hands. Now games like Skyrim, Terraria, and many others have incorporated a rather simple mechanic like this in their games and as part of different genres and experiences.
Players could also fight monsters around the world, craft items that they could use (and not just structures) and explore a vast world. As mentioned earlier, that world just kept getting bigger.
Minecraft stayed in beta for a long time, longer than most games ever do. There was speculation that it would never come out of beta, as new features were always being added and the owner just kept tweaking the project as new ideas came to him and players made suggestions.
The early days of Minecraft were important for the modding scene. On PC, players often take their favorite games and modify them using programs they created themselves or that others created for everyone to use. These allow them to customize the game to their liking, add new quests or features and even update the graphics to some degree.
Minecraft has always been a simple looking game, with very basic block shapes making up the entire world and the graphics made to look like pixels. This allows it to do incredible things with its very limited visuals, and it can process user requests much faster than if it were using high-end graphics. It also allows changes to be made easily and at less expense than they would for a more modern looking game.
Before the end of 2009, several modes had been added to Minecraft. They include Survival, Indev, and Infdev. At this point, the game was still in its alpha stages.
Minecraft Published
The beta stage began in 2010, and the creator had stopped his daytime job to work full time on Minecraft, adding new features, updating the game and fixing bugs. While new versions other game cost money, all bug fixes were free during this development cycle.
The beta phase only began once publisher Mojang grew interested in the project and began to fund its development. They would eventually go on to release a full version of the game in 2011. It sold millions of copies and spawned a worldwide phenomenon, but there were still lots of change for Minecraft yet to come.
Once the game was published, new updates were still made, and bugs were being dealt with. New server hosts were put in place, allowing the game to run smoother and do a lot more with its processing power. The world expanded in size as players tried to travel across the seemingly endless digital space. It was designed to go on endlessly, and new areas were added to make the game more interesting.
The Nether and the End were added to the base world. The Nether was a Hell-like region that was only accessible by a portal. The End was a series of islands, on which the final boss of the game resided. Once the boss was defeated, the credits would roll, but players could continue to go back to their worlds and explore the game environment after beating the game.
Hitting All Platforms
Mojang put out a few different versions of Minecraft while they had the publishing rights, releasing a free to play version known as Classic Minecraft on the PC, along with the full version they had put most of their publishing power behind. Microsoft bought the game and the brand from them a few years later, though, and went into a publishing frenzy.
First of all, they put Minecraft onto their systems, the Xbox 360 and the Xbox One, later bringing the same game to the PlayStation and the Wii U. It’s even on mobile platforms and Windows 10 at this point, and Microsoft is showing no signs of slowing down with the publishing and development plans for Minecraft.
The game has expanded beyond its single-game roots. Microsoft tasked Telltale games with creating Minecraft Story Mode, which is a single player, story-based game that plays mostly like an interactive story.
An educational edition of the game was also released to be used in classrooms, and its focus was more on exploring and building than combat.
Microsoft continues to support the base Minecraft game, through releasing timely skin packs, which offer new looks for the major characters. Players can dress their characters up like holiday favorites, as well as pop culture icons, such as characters from Star Wars and Harry Potter. No matter what fanbase a person belongs to, they are likely to find Minecraft skins that will interest them. Dozens of these have been released already with more on the way all the time.
Minecraft Moving Forward
There have been whispers of a sequel for a long time. After all, this original game is almost a decade old at this point, and it makes sense that as one of the best-selling games of all time that it would receive follow up. So far, updates, remasters and spinoffs seem to be the only thing coming down the pipeline, and Microsoft is hesitant to dish out any concrete details on a sequel.
Everyone in the industry seems to feel that one will come, but they don’t know when. Microsoft is more concerned with protecting their brand and making the most of what they already have with this game than making a quick buck with the sequel. They paid good money for the brand and the game, so it makes sense that they will take their time with the sequel and make it something that will propel the brand forward for another decade, if necessary.
They are still making a lot of money off the base game, its many versions and the DLC (downloadable content) for the game. There is no rush to get a sequel out on store shelves when so many people are still spending money on the original.
Microsoft’s plans right now for Minecraft, at least as far as they have told anyone, is that they are prioritizing those platforms where the players are most heavily concentrated. So, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Windows 10 are all getting priority over other platforms where there are not as many players. Once the player base on other platforms grows, then those players will become a priority for Microsoft as well.
What this means for players on those consoles and platforms that Microsoft is actively supporting is that they will receive regular updates. They can enjoy features like Realms, which lets players rent a dedicated server. This will allow them to connect with friends and family without the host ever being
online and create a persistent world for them to play around in.
Microsoft has adopted a wait and see attitude for development on Minecraft. This is a new IP for them, and they are careful about how they are pushing to forward and where their development priorities need to be. They did pay a hefty 2.5 billion dollars for it a few years ago, and that’s not an investment
that should be taken lightly.
E3 2017 was the last place anyone was able to learn about some of the new additions to Minecraft, and we can expect more on this at the next E3 for sure. Microsoft showed off its Better Together update. What this does is allow players from the Switch, Xbox One and Windows 10 PC to all play together. This is almost unprecedented for a game that belongs to a console maker, and it’s very exciting how Microsoft has been willing to play nice with
everyone when to comes to inter-console connectivity.
The Super-Duper Graphics pack is another big change for Minecraft. It improves the graphics to never before seen heights and adds in all sorts of dynamic lighting effects. It dramatically changes the look of Minecraft without changing up the mechanics at all. This new downloadable pack makes the difference between night and day more aesthetically appealing and helps to set a mood for the game that wasn’t previously possible.
Players don’t have to worry about this changing up the classic look of Minecraft, though. This update is entirely optional, and players can keep the same look they have known and loved for years if they want. Microsoft is moving forward with updates like this with their focus on allowing players to play and
experience Minecraft anyway they want to.
Exposing the code for players is another feature that Microsoft is testing out with players. This allows Minecraft users to customize the game to their liking, altering mob behaviors and other aspects of how the game functions. There are no plans to allow players to customize the skins or the graphics in any way, and that’s understandable on Microsoft’s part. They know a lot of people would abuse that kind of power and make creations that are not in line
with the brand Microsoft is going for with Minecraft.
Minecraft is always changing. Not all of those changes will be required for everyone right away, but you can bet that a single version of the game will not stagnate for long. The developers just won’t allow it with such a well-known brand. You can bet that Microsoft has big plans for the franchise moving forward, but they are staying tightlipped about a sequel and spinoffs. We know that Minecraft Story Mode is likely to continue for a while, and the educational version of Minecraft used in schools is doing very well and will also continue for the foreseeable future. We also know that Microsoft plans to continue to update the current game for a while.
Microsoft has already been very clear that they have a 100-year plan with this franchise. At some point, that means a sequel will come down the line, but there is obviously no rush to disrupt the current user base beyond growing it and feeding it with new content for what they already have. We can expect big things from Minecraft in the coming years, but it’s hard to say right now exactly what form they will take.
Minecraft is one of the biggest games in the world, if not the biggest. How could a small indie game with no funding and only one developer become the phenomena it is today? Let's take a trip down memory lane together, and find out
If you're an avid Minecraft player, or know the way around the game, you can skip this part. Before we look through the history books, let's summarize how this epic game is played out. Minecraft is arguably the most influential of sandbox games. The player is dropped into a large randomized open world (actually infinite!) with biomes such as mountains, forests, caves, plains and oceans - with no specific goal or objective. Progression can only be reached through an Achievements system. The world consists of cubes, or blocks, which you can destroy, remove, build or replace. It also has a night/day cycle. Depending on the set difficulty level, players need to eat and defend themselves from hostile mobs during the night.
Through various Game Modes chosen at the start of each new game, players will experience a different adventure. If you just want to focus on building amazing things, you should choose Creative Mode. If you want a real adventure, boom, Adventure Mode is for you. If you want "the real deal" struggling
for survival, Survival Mode is the perfect fit. These various modes makes the game even more replayable.
The beginningAlright, now you know how the game is played out. It's time to learn how it all started. Minecraft is the brainchild of the Swedish programmer Markus "Notch" Persson who previously worked at the video game developers King and later jAlbum. Before laying all of his focus on Minecraft, Notch developed a few prototypes during his off-hours, inspired by popular games at the time. Among the prototypes were RubyDung, a base-building game, and Infiniminer, a block-based mining game. I think we all see how the ideas behind Minecraft were being formed.The first edition of Minecraft, called Java Edition, was made by Notch during a weekend in early May 2009. The game was initially released to the public in May 17 on the TIGSource forum, a forum for Independent game developers. After feedback from his peers, Notch updated the game to, which nowadays is called, the Classic version. A few more updates were released during the next couple of months, the Indev and Infdevs versions, before the first major update, Alpha, was released June 30 2010. It was around this time that Minecraft was beginning to pick up speed.
Notch quit his daytime job to solely focus on Minecraft. With the money earned from the game, he founded the now legendary video game company Mojang, together with his previous colleagues Carl Manneh and Jakob Porser. At this time, Minecraft was constantly updated and calibrated. New items, blocks, mobs, resources, game mechanics - and the much loved Survival Mode was added. In December 30, Minecraft entered the Beta-phase. In preparation for the full release, Mojang hired new employees as the game, and the amount of people who played it, grew at a rapid pace.
A vision takes over the worldThe full version of Minecraft was released on the 18 November 2011. And it was an immediate success. You didn't see that coming, right?! From this time on, Minecraft was really only heading one way. And that way was up. To focus on the direction of the game and taking a more overall lead, Notch stepped down as the Lead Designer and hired Jens "Jeb" Bergensten, who took full creative control of the game.
As the player base grew, so did Mojang. Tying up deals with more partners and developers was a must to support and push the limit of the ever increasing Minecraft. Over the next couple of years, several new editions and updates came out, including the "Adventure Update", "Pretty Scary Update" and "The Update that Changed the World". Slicker design, more types of mobs, biomes, objectives, items and game mechanics were added. One of the biggest allures of Minecraft was that it was constantly changing and updated - with more things to do and experience. Nothing has changed to this day.
After all the success and imprint of Minecraft in the hearts of so many gamers, Mojang and the ownership of Minecraft's intellectual property was bought by Microsoft in 2017, for almost a record amount. It was suggested by Notch himself on Twitter, looking for a corporation to buy his shares.Minecraft continued to develop and added more of literally everything. Boss fights, a much larger underground element, additional dimensions and areas. The game was introduced to various new consoles and platforms during the years. Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo, the Pocket Edition for mobile. Even virtual reality got a piece of the Minecraft cake. Basically, if you own an electronic media machine of any kind, you can play the game.
Game Modes and Spinoffs
Due to the popularity of Minecraft, several game modes and spinoffs were, and still are, being made - to keep the re-playability and freshness. Gamers play Minecraft for a variety of reasons - all with different goals and aims. Some like to focus on building amazing things in Creative Mode - the Eiffel Tower and Taj Mahal is among the ambitious creations. Some like to survive on the highest difficulty as long as possible in Survival Mode or Hardcore Mode. Some want to discover all the secrets and Easter eggs and some want a more story-based adventure in Adventure Mode. There're tons of things to do!
Minecraft is also highly customizable. The modding community has made a wide variety of new maps, mobs, items - everything you can think of! Another aspect of Minecraft is the Multiplayer Mode where several players can meet and play in a single world. Surviving by fighting off mobs and build stuff together sounds pretty fun, right?
Many spinoffs have also been made to the versatile game. A majority of them by or together with Mojang. The most famous spinoffs include Minecraft: Story Mode, an episode and story-driven standalone game developed by Telltale Games and Mojang. Minecraft Dungeons, a dungeon crawler where up to four people can hack and slash through various caves, exploring and finding treasures. And Minecraft Earth, where augmented reality is implemented into the world. Mojang and Microsoft sure knows how to freshen things up.
The train that keeps on goingNobody in their right mind could ever had predicted the massive cultural impact that Minecraft has had. Few games can boast the incredible rise, and more impressive, the constant relevance it has had since the beginning. The main game and its various spinoffs are played more than ever, and updates keeps them fresh in an ever-changing world. Minecraft has won multiple awards and has, more than once, been called "One of the most important games of the decade" by several acclaimed reviewers.
Critics have praised the original "blocky" graphics, the freedom to play precisely how the player chooses to, the enormous open world, the constant updates, mods and changes made, the complex crafting system, the ability to engage people of all ages, the transformations into mobile, console and virtual reality and perfect balance between an adventure game and sandbox. It's no wonder that Minecraft is reported to have been sold in over 200 million copies with over 125 million monthly active players. Crazy numbers right there.
As the early funding was player-based, Minecraft was one of the first indie games to truly use Youtube and other similar media platforms to market itself successfully. Many of today's biggest gaming influencers used Minecraft to exert themselves on their respective channels, to gather and sustain viewers. The story of Minecraft is a great example of synergy in the world of gaming.It's safe to say that, nowadays, Minecraft is more than just a game. Its impact on our society and the popularity it holds, has seen it being transformed into movies, documentaries, novels, physical merchandise and music. It is applicated in education, planning of infrastructure and habitat studies. Almost wherever we look, Minecraft's imprint is visible. So, the question is, what does the future hold for the phenomenon that is Minecraft?
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