Minecraft (2009)
Date: May 17, 2009
Platform: Mac / Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3 / Xbox 360 Games Store / PlayStation Network (PS3) / PC / iPhone / iPad / Android / Windows Phone / PlayStation Vita / Wii U / Browser / PlayStation Network (Vita) / Xbox One / PlayStation 4 / Linux / Amazon Fire TV / New Nintendo 3DS / Nintendo Switch / Xbox Series X|S
Developer: Mojang AB / 4J Studios / Other Ocean Interactive / Digital Eclipse Software, Inc.
Publisher: Mojang AB / Xbox Game Studios / Sony Interactive Entertainment America / Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
Genre: Action-Adventure
Theme: Fantasy
Franchises: Minecraft
Also known as: Minecraft Xbox One Edition / Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition / Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition
Adaptation: Inspiration
Summary:
Minecraft is an open world, first-person, survival sandbox game, developed and published by Mojang. It was originally released in a pre-alpha state via the TIGSource forums on May 17, 2009, and was later hosted online for supported browsers before receiving a standalone release for PC, Mac, and Linux on June 30, 2010. The game would officially exit its Beta version on November 18, 2011, although major updates continue to be released. Since August 2011, a number of ports of the game have released for consoles and mobile devices.
Presented with a unique low-resolution “voxel” aesthetic (where everything is shaped using cubes), the game allows players to interact with a variety of different “blocks” in a procedurally-generated world. Along with both resource mining/gathering and item crafting (hence the game name), the game features exploration (with multiple biomes and locations), combat, and construction. In addition to the standard “Survival” mode, the game features a “Creative” mode that allows players to design environments with an unlimited amount of blocks at their disposal and no survival elements. The game supports online multiplayer and later supported numerous content packs (including new world/block textures and player skins, many of which are cross-promotions with other games and franchises).
Originally created by indie developer Markus “Notch” Persson (whose roles were later taken over by fellow indie developer Jens “Jeb” Bergensten), Minecraft was ported to numerous smartphones (originally known as Minecraft: Pocket Edition) and consoles (originally known as Minecraft: Console Edition, with the “Console” in the name being replaced by the console’s name). On September 20, 2017, the game received a major “Better Together” update that merges the smartphone version with some console versions (including Windows 10, Xbox One, and later Nintendo Switch) together for a single multi-platform version (known as Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, with the original computer versions renamed to Minecraft: Java Edition) with all features accessible (including cross-platform multiplayer). Alternate editions include a multi-platform version for use in classroom settings (Minecraft: Education Edition), a cut-down version for small RaspberryPi microcomputers (Minecraft: Pi Edition), and a multi-platform version for use in China (Minecraft China).
The game has received a number of spin-offs, including the 2015 adventure game Minecraft: Story Mode (and its 2017 sequel), the 2020 dungeon crawler Minecraft: Dungeons, and the augmented-reality mobile game Minecraft Earth. As well, Minecraft’s procedurally-generated sandbox elements would inspire many other games, in both 2D (such as Terraria and Starbound) and 3D (such as Dragon Quest Builders and LEGO Worlds).
