All about Minecraft, one of the most popular video games ever

If you are here, you have at least heard the name of this game once and we have chosen one of the Most popular video games 2021 to talk about. But it is necessary that we describe the game and give you the information needed to fully understand what Minecraft is and why are we here today talking about this masterpiece.

Minecraft is a sandbox video game created by Mojang Studios, a Swedish video game studio. Markus "Notch" Persson built the game using the Java programming language.

It was originally made public in May 2009 after many early private testing versions, before being completely released in November 2011, with Jens Bergensten taking over development. Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time, with over 200 million copies sold and over 140 million monthly active users as of 2021.

Minecraft allows players to find and extract raw resources, manufacture tools, and items, and build structures and earthworks in a blocky, randomly generated 3D environment with almost limitless terrain.

Depending on the game option, players can fight computer-controlled creatures as well as work with or compete against other players in the same setting. Of course, we'll go over these topics in greater depth later in the text.

A complete and detailed article all about Minecraft, one of the most popular video games ever

First things first, we have already done a few articles related to the

most popular video games 2021

, which you can find the links of at the end of the article.

In this article, we are going to cover every aspect of the game which has been on the top of the list of best-selling video games in recent months.

First, we will talk about its basic aspects such as the gameplay, the soundtrack, the characters, and controls then we will get into the awards and achievements that this game has managed to get. We will also talk about the developers and the composer of the soundtrack as well.

Now, without further ado let us hop into the game and see what’s going on in this vast cubic world of Minecraft.

Minecraft premise

Let us talk about the gameplay and the final goal that the player should achieve in every mode of this amazing game which is one of the

most popular video games 2021

. This part might get long because of the vast gameplay and mode selection that this game has.

Minecraft is a 3D sandbox game with no set goals to achieve, giving players a great deal of freedom in how they play the game. However, there is an accomplishment system in the Java Edition of the game, known as "advancements," and "trophies" in the PlayStation adaptations.

By default, the game is played in a first-person viewpoint, however, players can choose to play in a third-person perspective.

The game environment is made out of basic 3D objects, mostly cubes, and fluids that are referred to as "blocks," which represent diverse elements including dirt, stone, ores, tree trunks, water, and lava. Picking up and arranging these things is at the heart of the game.

These blocks are organized in a three-dimensional grid, and players can freely travel around the environment. Players may "mine" bricks and then put them anywhere they like, allowing them to construct structures.

The game's physics system is much different than most popular video games 2021 and has been dubbed "unrealistic" by several critics. Redstone is a substance in the game that may be used to create rudimentary mechanical devices, electrical circuits, and logic gates, enabling the creation of a variety of sophisticated systems.

Modes

Let see what the game has to offer when it comes to the game modes and difficulties.

Players must pick one of five game modes and one of four difficulty levels when creating a new planet, ranging from serene to challenging. The player takes greater damage from enemies as the difficulty of the game increases, as well as other difficulty-specific consequences.

The peaceful setting, for example, bans aggressive monsters from appearing, whereas the high difficulty permits players to starve to death if their hunger bar reaches zero. The difficulty can be adjusted after it has been chosen, however, the game mode is locked and can only be changed via cheats.

Skins and mobs

Most popular video games 2021

have a way of customizing your character but what can possibly Minecraft players do when it comes to customizing simplistic cube-like characters.

New players are given a preset character skin of either Steve or Alex, however, in 2010, the possibility to design unique skins was added.

If it was only the player roaming around a gigantic map it would have been boring, but the player will meet some nice creatures as well as some evil ones. Animals, villagers, and hostile creatures are among the non-player characters known as mobs that players meet.

Cows, pigs, and chickens are examples of passive creatures that may be hunted for food and crafting resources. They appear throughout the day, but hostile mobs, such as giant spiders, skeletons, and zombies, appear at night or in dark areas like caverns.

If they don't have headgear, some hostile creatures, such as zombies, skeletons, and drowned (underwater zombies), will burn in the sun.

The creeper (an explosive monster that creeps upon the player) and the enderman (a creature with the ability to teleport as well as pick up and place blocks) are two more Minecraft-exclusive species. There are other mob variations that spawn in diverse environments, such as husk forms of zombies that spawn in deserts.

Dimensions

The most popular video games 2021 are much more fun when you are playing with your friends. That is why most of the games from the list of best-selling video games have multiplayer mods. Minecraft is not an offline game in any way and you can experience building complicated buildings and mining materials with your pals.

Multiple players can interact and communicate with each other in a single world in Minecraft's multiplayer mode. Direct game-to-game multiplayer, LAN play, local split screen (console-only), and servers are all accessible (player-hosted and business-hosted).

Players can host their own servers, utilize a third-party hosting service, or connect to another player's game directly via Xbox Live.

Local area network functionality is available in single-player worlds, allowing users to join a world using locally connected computers without the need for a server. Server operators are in charge of Minecraft multiplayer servers, and they have access to server commands like changing the time of day and teleporting people.

Operators can also specify which usernames or IP addresses are permitted or prohibited from accessing the service. Multiplayer servers offer a diverse range of activities, with some having their own set of rules and traditions.

Hypixel is the largest and most popular server, with over 14 million unique users visiting it. Player against player (PvP) combat can be enabled to allow players to battle one other. Many servers include custom plugins that allow users to do things that would otherwise be impossible.

Minecraft development

Let us talk about the development of this game which made it one of the most downloaded games of all time. Minecraft's first edition, currently known as the Java Edition, was released in May 2009. Persson uploaded a test video of an early version of Minecraft on YouTube.

Persson finished the foundation program of Minecraft over the course of a weekend that month, and a private beta was launched on TigIRC on May 16, 2009. The game was initially made public on TIGSource forums on May 17, 2009, as a developmental release.

Persson made changes to the game in response to user comments on the forums. This version was eventually dubbed the Classic version.  Between September 2009 and June 2010, new development phases called Survival Test, Indev, and Infdev were introduced.

The game underwent some huge updates after that which made the game what it is now, most popular video games 2021 have done the same thing, but due to the lack of space and in order to keep the article brief, sadly we are restricted from covering the updates individually.

Minecraft editions 

Most popular video games 2021 have several versions, including mobile ones and console and PC ones.

There are 3 main versions of the game, Minecraft: Pocket Edition, Legacy Console Edition, and Minecraft: Education Edition.

Now let us take a look at every edition of this marvelous game which is on the top of the

list of best-selling video games

.

Minecraft: Pocket Edition

Minecraft: Pocket Edition was launched as an early alpha version on the Android Market in August 2011 for the Xperia Play. On October 8, 2011, it was made available for a variety of other compatible devices.

On November 17, 2011, an iOS version of Minecraft was launched. Shortly after Microsoft purchased Mojang, a port was made available for Windows Phones.

The full version of Minecraft: Pocket Edition was launched for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone on December 19, 2016.

Minecraft: Bedrock Edition was released in 2017, replacing the Pocket Edition and allowing cross-platform to play with Xbox One and Nintendo Switch versions.

Legacy console edition

The game's Xbox 360 version, created by 4J Studios, was published on May 9, 2012. The Xbox 360 version included material that was comparable to earlier PC versions at first, but it was gradually upgraded to bring it closer to the current PC version before it was discontinued.

On September 5, 2014, an Xbox One version with bigger worlds and other improvements was launched. The PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 versions of the game were published on December 17, 2013, and September 4, 2014, respectively.

Minecraft: Education Edition

Minecraft: Education Edition is an educational version of the main game based on the Bedrock codebase, developed particularly for use in educational organizations such as schools.

It runs on Windows 10, Mac OS, iPad OS, and Chrome OS. A Chemistry Resource Pack is included, as well as free lesson plans on the Minecraft: Education Edition website and two free companion applications: Code Connection and Classroom Mode.

Between June 9 and November 1, 2016, a first beta test was conducted.  On November 1, 2016, the entire game was published for Windows 10 and MacOS. Mojang Studios stated on August 20, 2018, that Education Edition will be coming to iPadOS in the fall of 2018.

On September 6, 2018, it was published on the App Store. JD.com was named as the operator of the Education Edition in China on March 27, 2019. On June 26, 2020, a Google Play Store compatible Chromebook with the Education Edition Public Beta became available.

On August 7, 2020, the entire game was released on the Google Play Store for Chromebooks.

Minecraft reception

Let us see how popular the game is and how it became one of the most popular video games 2021.

Minecraft sold over a million copies in less than a month after it was released in beta in early 2011. At the same time, the game lacked a publisher and was never professionally promoted other than by word of mouth and unpaid references in prominent media such as the Penny Arcade webcomic.

Minecraft has generated €23 million (US$33 million) in income by April 2011, according to Persson, with 800,000 sales of the alpha version and over 1 million sales of the beta version.

This amazing game had risen to become the 6th best-selling PC game of all time by March 2012. The game has sold 17 million copies on PC as of October 10, 2014, making it the best-selling PC game of all time.

This masterpiece has sold roughly 60 million copies across all platforms as of October 10, 2014, making it the best-selling video game of all time.

The game achieved 100 million registered players on February 25, 2014. By May 2019, it has sold 180 million copies across all platforms, making it the all-time best-selling video game. By November 2019, the free-to-play Minecraft China edition has surpassed 300 million gamers.

Awards and achievements

Most popular video games 2021 have a list of achievements and accomplishments and Minecraft is no exception.

Minecraft was named the fourth-best game to play at work by PC Gamer in July 2010. It was also awarded the eighth greatest game of the year as well as the eighth-best indie game of the year by Gamasutra in December of that year, while Rock, Paper, Shotgun dubbed it the "game of the year". 

The game received two out of five Editor's Choice awards for most Innovative and best singleplayer Indie from Indie DB, as well as the 2010 Indie of the Year award selected by voters. PC Gamer UK named it Game of the Year as well.

At the March 2011 Independent Games Festival, the game was nominated for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, Technical Excellence, and Excellence in Design categories, and it won the Grand Prize and the community-voted Audience Award.

Minecraft won every category it was nominated for at the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2011, including Best Debut Game, Best Downloadable Game, and Innovation Award.

It also took the video game arts award from GameCity. Minecraft was chosen as one of the 80 games to be shown at the Smithsonian American Art Museum's The Art of Video Games exhibition, which debuted on March 16, 2012.

As you can see the game is not only one of the most downloaded games of all time but also one of the most successful games out there.

This was all there was to this game and thank you for reading our article. You can also share this article with friends and family members to let them know about this gem among the

most downloaded games of all time

.

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