Microsoft Reveals 'Minecraft is home to an Astonishing 112 million Monthly Players

It's been apparent to anyone paying to the news that Minecraft has seen an increase in popularity lately however, now we can quantify it to a certain extent.

This week, Microsoft has told Business Insider that Minecraft has risen to 112 million monthly users which is a 20 million increase since the last time they reported those figures in October 2018. The game is now more than a decade old and is more relevant than ever before.

There are many reasons for the current popularity of Minecraft. The latest update came out around the ten year anniversary that brought in a lot of new content. PewDiePie, a 100 million-subscriber YouTuber, is the one who is credited with bringing the game back to the "influencer" scene. His channel was dedicated to Minecraft for the last few months. And then there's the slow disappearance of Fortnite as players move out of that megahit and back into other games, Minecraft among them.

Minecraft's growth is even more impressive when you consider that on most platforms, it isn't actually free, unlike Fortnite. Although some may attribute Microsoft for incorporating it into the Xbox Game Pass to increase the number of players but others might not.

Fortnite appears to be aware that Minecraft is attracting less players and that's why we have seen the birth of Creative Mode in that game and the continued dedication to building it out. Minecraft is still the original and will only increase its popularity through future releases such as Minecraft Dungeons. This combines the original with Diablo-like looting and Dungeons.

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Overall, the common refrain I hear from Minecraft players is that it's a game they like to revisit after a while. In this instance, there was a snowball effect in which so many players returned to the game together that it was as if old friends could join the game at the same time and have as much enjoyment today like they did a few years ago.
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Microsoft's $2.5 billion acquisition of Minecraft felt kind of odd at the time, but now they own one of the most played games on the planet. I am willing to bet that 112 million players per month is more than Fortnite is currently playing and, possibly, only competing with mobile games at this level. It's deeply impressive.

Expect Minecraft to last for the rest of time. It will be relevant in the future with new releases such as Minecraft Dungeons, Minecraft Earth and the AR game that will be aimed at Pokemon Go in the next.

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