Minecraft Essay

Minecraft is a multi-platform, sandbox video game created and designed by a Swedish programmer, Marcus Perrson who is also known as 'notch'. It was created in 2009 and was eventually published via Mojang. A sandbox is a style of game which has minimal character limitations, so the gamer is viable to roam and explore in a virtual world with no hurdles, many tasks can be completed however they are not compulsory to 'complete' the game therefore it is down to the gamer imagination! How was Minecraft so successful you may ask? Personally, I believe that it was down to many factors such as it being an original game with the context or roaming free and being able to create buildings or survive in the wild. The game originated as an indie game as it was a small company (Mojang) that published Minecraft therefore new and emerging ideas where present that hadn't been engulfed from the vast conglomerates. When playing Minecraft it seems to sustain a strong and varied community from young children to adults that stream for others to watch and share to enjoy and potentially learn something new about the game.With Minecraft being available on many platforms such a PC, Xbox, PS4 and Mobile devices, it increasing the target audience potentially increasing sales and revenue, which can be reinvested into the game increasing the overall game play. Overall, this helps benefit the producers of the game alongside the audience as the game they love everyday is getting technically stronger and more enjoyable due to a larger fan base and cross platform availability. From the years 2014/15 business year, Minecraft tripled their revenue from 1 million to 3 million! As a result of a small business, Microsoft viewed their success as an investment, therefore late in 2014 purchased Minecraft from Mojang for a record $2.5 billion!

Twitch is a huge streaming platform, allows gamers to stream game play of various games for fans to watch/enjoy and share. This allows the streamers to gain donations from fans to allow a revenue, which potentially increases the amount of streamers due to the potential of a financial and public gain. Twitch have collaborated with Amazon, for those with amazon prime Twitch prime is gifted for free which allows various attributes for fans to contribute and speak with their favourite streamers which again increases the audience and target audience. Not only do they host gaming events and streams they show IRL videos (In Real Life) which consist of events such as concerts and sporting events which opens to a larger audience. Minecraft have their own Twitch channel, they post eccentric buildings, competitions and tutorials for the community to watch and to improve their experience on the game. This then helps promote their game for the potential of a new audience. In late 2014 Microsoft purchased Minecraft from Mojang for a total of $2.5 billion! Therefore, Mojang joined Microsoft's large stable internal studios. Customization, allows the game to chop and change to your desire, not only can you make Minecraft look different with skins and resource packs, but you can also use mods to completely change the game. For example, in Project Ozone 2 Kappa Mode, the mod pack (a collection of mods put together for entertainment), many recipes have been made much more difficult. There are vast options from making jet packs, to flying like a bird, to exploring other planets, to following the quest line, magic mods, tech mods and computers inside of mine craft. Another point that falls into the category of customization are the various game modes (Creative, Survival and Realms). This allows a greater structure if people wish to plays to rules and wish to play with friend in things such as mini games on external servers and realms (private servers only holding 10 people.