Minecraft first released in 2009. Fifteen years later, 200bn blocks have been placed in the game. We spoke to Indian gamers to find out what makes the game’s charm everlasting
The earliest 2009 Minecraft videos were about building starter houses and starships; then later it became about building communities, group narratives, and entire worlds. Pic/Minecraft Official Website
Do you know what Adamantis is? It is a city built using sixty million blocks by gamer jamdelaney1, who spent three months creating it. It’s much like Legos on steroids.
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That’s the beauty of Minecraft. You can literally build anything your mind can conjure; from towering skyscrapers to sprawling underwater cities; or a replica of the Taj Mahal or the Sistine Chapel. The possibilities are endless.
The game is a playground for anyone with an imagination. “It’s like having a second life, which you can build using blocks”, says Mithilesh Patankar. Popular by his gaming name, Mythpat, who has over 14 million subscribers on YouTube, Patankar began playing Minecraft only in 2020-21. He says that audiences enjoy streaming Minecraft gaming videos because no two Minecraft stories are alike. “I began playing it in the lockdown, and I think I must have got easily five to six million subscribers only because of the Minecraft videos”, he adds. He admits he began playing it for the views, but soon started enjoying the game. Although, he says he has no set playing style, “I think I play it quite badly and the audience enjoys seeing me fail and exploring the game.”
Gamer Mythpat, Mithilesh Patankar, who has 14 million followers on YouTube, started playing Minecraft in the lockdown. “People enjoy watching me fail and explore,” he says
But, Minecraft has become more than a game. According to YouTube’s official blog, the game’s streaming videos alone have more than 1.5 trillion views on YouTube. We have all spent hours watching pixelated adventures unfold—from survival tutorials to elaborate server builds, there’s something for every kind of viewer.
For a gaming YouTuber, the draw towards the game is perhaps the ability to create worlds, tell stories, and joke around—all of which makes for excellent streamable content. But for many others, it’s Minecraft’s simple graphics and free form, and the availability of several devices that keeps the game exciting.
Minecraft was released to the public on TIGSource forum, a hub for independent game creators, in early May 2009. Shagun Shah, an experienced and well-known game developer and investment professional, first played the game when it was initially released. He bought it with fellow avid video gamers to test it out. “Video games then had heavy RPG and were curated experiences. Minecraft, on the other hand, was a free-form sandbox game. At the time when it was released, there wasn’t anything quite like it on the market. It was essentially like digital Lego, so it was easy for people to pick it up,” he says.
Anshu Bisht, Shagun Shah, Kashyap Reddy and Saumya Iyer
Markus “Notch” Persson, the game’s creator, incorporated feedback from internet gaming forums to refine the experience. This version is now known as Classic; and over the next few months, there were further updates before the significant Alpha update arrived in June 2010. This marked a turning point as Minecraft’s popularity began to snowball. By December 2010, a Beta version was available.
Notch founded the video gaming company Mojang with a few others and continued to develop the game. Minecraft’s full version was released in November 2011; and eventually Mojang and Minecrat was bought over by Microsoft in 2017.
Speaking on the popularity of the game, Saumya Iyer, who currently works as a mobile games producer and has been playing games since they were on DOS says, “A lot of it is because it offers so much to players. They can express their creativity, where players feel like they are creating the game. And, the game developers are very supportive, offering constant updates.” Iyer adds that some players build fantastic architecture in the game. Some examples you can see across the globe include a render of the Titanic, Minas Tirith, among others.
According to Mojang Studios, over 200 billion blocks have been placed in the game. The ever-evolving world of Minecraft sees players of all ages. With constant updates and a thriving modding (an act or instance of modifying something) community, the game offers fresh experiences even for seasoned players. “It’s my all-time favourite game, I don’t think I’ll ever stop playing Minecraft,” says Anshu Bisht, who is better known as Gamer Fleet on YouTube, and has 3.9 million followers. Initially, he would only stream other creators’ Minecraft videos, but now, the game has helped him make new friends. Now, his own games garner over 100K views with his humorous commentary adding an edge. “I kill everyone in the game,” he says, laughing.
Who knew battling creepers and mining for diamonds could be so addictive? But perhaps the most special aspect of Minecraft is its ability to connect people. “Minecraft’s community is extremely strong worldwide,” mentions Patankar.
Whether you’re building a magnificent castle with friends online or introducing your child to the wonders of redstone engineering, the game fosters a sense of community and shared experience. Kashyap Reddy, CEO and co-founder of Hitwicket says, “I have noticed that kids generally tend to play with kids of their own age but that’s not the case with Minecraft. The game’s community aspect brings everyone together. Such games also spark an interest in computers. My nephews play the game, and it got them interested in coding.”
Fifteen years on, it’s remarkable that Minecraft has managed to keep gamers, regardless of age, interested. What truly makes it stick? “Every once so often, you have a game that is a genre-definer. Minecraft was the spark for a whole set of creative sandbox games which eventually lead to something like a Fortnite”, says Shah. He lists another example of this PUBG: Battlegrounds, a battle royale game based on modifications created by Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene for other games. “Release of certain games are watershed moments where they have tried something so new, and it comes together so well at which point it’s purely organic downloads. And then you back that up with a marketing apparatus”, adds Shah.
For fans of the game and gaming YouTubers want to see more. “I want to see Minecraft as a sport in India. As a creator, I will try my best to make this happen,” concludes Bisht.
1.5 trillion
Views that Minecraft streaming videos have garnered on YouTube since its inception in 2009
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