Minecraft

Mojang announced in October 2023 that Minecraft had passed 300 million copies sold, the most of any video game.

Context

Minecraft was created by Markus Persson, with early versions released in 2009, and the full release followed in 2011. It was later bought by Microsoft in 2014. Players gather materials, build structures and explore a world made of blocks, and there is no fixed goal, which has helped it appeal across many age groups.

The 300 million figure was announced by developer Mojang in October 2023 and counts copies sold across all platforms, including computers, consoles and phones. Because it is a company statement, it is the best available figure but not an independent audit.

Other long-running games are sometimes put forward in rankings, but their totals depend on how many versions on different devices are combined. For a single title, Minecraft is generally listed first in sales rankings. Sales totals count purchases only, so free copies and subscriptions are left out. The game has also grown through updates, movies and merchandise, but those do not count toward the copy total, which refers to the game itself. Microsoft's purchase price of about 2.5 billion dollars made headlines when it was announced, and sales have continued since the milestone, so the current total is likely higher than 300 million.