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Minecraft Keeps Growing After 17 Years
At some point, most games begin to slow down. Audiences move on, newer releases take their place and even once-dominant titles can gradually slip out of the conversation.
Mojang Studios’ Minecraft continues to be a rather large exception. The first public version of Minecraft appeared in 2009, with the full 1.0 release following in 2011. That means 2026 marks 17 years since players first got their hands on the block-building phenomenon, yet its ability to attract completely new audiences apparently remains remarkably strong.
According to Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, more than 300,000 people play Minecraft for the first time on an average day, even after all those years.
Has Now Sold More Than 425 Million Copies
Sharma shared the figure following the latest Minecraft Live, alongside another milestone for the long-running game. Minecraft has now sold more than 425 million copies over its lifetime, further extending its position as one of the biggest commercial successes in gaming.
The first-time player figure is arguably just as striking. More than 300,000 newcomers joining on an average day means the game is not simply relying on an enormous established audience. New generations are continuing to discover it across PC, consoles and mobile devices long after many of its earliest players first started punching trees.
Its continued expansion also comes as Mojang keeps adding substantial new content. Minecraft Live revealed that The Sift will come to Java and Bedrock Edition in 2027, becoming the game’s first new dimension in more than 14 years.
Becoming Even More Important to Xbox
Those numbers also help explain why Minecraft has become increasingly central to Microsoft’s plans for Xbox. As part of the company’s ongoing Xbox restructuring, Mojang now reports directly to Sharma, with Xbox leadership identifying both Mojang and King as particularly important because of their scale and monthly active audiences.
Reports surrounding the wider reset have also identified the game as one of the areas where Xbox intends to concentrate more of its resources, rather than spreading investment as broadly across its studio portfolio. That makes the latest player figures particularly relevant. This is not just a legacy hit Microsoft happens to own, it remains a major source of growth at a time when Xbox is becoming far more selective about where it puts its attention.
Seventeen years after its first public version, more than 425 million copies sold would already be enough to cement Minecraft’s place in gaming history. The fact that hundreds of thousands of people are still trying it for the first time every day suggests its story is nowhere near finished.
