2011 video game

Minecraft is a sandbox game developed and published by the Swedish company Mojang Studios. Following its initial public alpha release as an early access title in 2009, it was formally released in November 2011 for personal computers. The game has since been ported to numerous platforms, including mobile devices and various video game consoles.

In Minecraft, players explore a procedurally generated world with virtually infinite terrain made up of three-dimensional blocks represented as voxels. They can discover and extract raw materials, craft tools and items, build structures, fight hostile mobs, and cooperate with or compete against other players in multiplayer. In addition, the game's large community offers a wide variety of user-generated content, such as modifications, servers, player skins, texture packs, and custom maps, which add new game mechanics and possibilities.

Originally created by Markus "Notch" Persson using the Java programming language, Jens "Jeb" Bergensten was handed control over the game's development following its full release. In November 2014, Mojang and the Minecraft intellectual property were purchased by Microsoft for US$2.5 billion; Xbox Game Studios hold the publishing rights for the Bedrock Edition, the unified cross-platform version which evolved from the Pocket Edition codebase and replaced the legacy console versions. Bedrock is updated concurrently with Mojang's original Java Edition, although with numerous, generally small, differences.

Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time with over 350 million copies sold. It has received critical acclaim, winning several awards and being cited as one of the best video games of all time. Social media, parodies, adaptations, merchandise, and the annual Minecon conventions have played prominent roles in popularizing it. The wider Minecraft franchise includes several spin-off games, such as Minecraft: Story Mode, Minecraft Dungeons, and Minecraft Legends. A film adaptation, titled A Minecraft Movie, was released in 2025 and is the third highest-grossing video game film of all time.

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