15 years of Minecraft
Few independent games have had the cultural impact Minecraft has over the last decade and a half. We’ll explore what put Minecraft on the map and how it’s changed the gaming market.
In 2009, independent games weren’t nearly as popular as they are today. Successful games of this time were all backed by big studios like Nintendo (bolstered in part by the success of the Wii), Sony, and Bandai Namco, with heavily publicized releases tied to a console like the Wii, Xbox, or Playstation.
Minecraft, a passion project of a small Swedish studio, captured the attention of the gaming community. Today, it’s the best-selling video game and is still played by over 150 million gamers worldwide each month, ranking first in PC games as of June 2024. It paved the way for other independent games to have their spot in the sun, and brought modding, community creation and fandom to the forefront of gaming.
Selling Steve to gamers
Unlike large game studios that used traditional advertising to announce their upcoming titles, Minecraft relied heavily on organic advertising and word of mouth. By meeting gamers in their own spaces and on their own forums, and by involving fans in the beta and subsequent release of Minecraft, they were able to garner positive attention ahead of their official release in 2011.
This ultimately changed how studios market their games. Now, they look to advertise where they know fans of their game might already be frequenting. This could be sponsoring events at gaming conventions, purchasing programmatic advertising on gaming websites, or working with agencies to create campaigns specifically for a gaming audience (like what we do here).
Rather than throwing money at getting the word out in any way and across any medium possible, Mojang Studios let gamers themselves spread the word. Through Reddit discussions and video game streams, Minecraft built up a steady enough following to explode onto the scene in 2011.
Making Minecraft a modder paradise
In a sharp 180 from other popular games of the period, Minecraft doesn’t have any real objectives. Sure, there’s a survival mode and achievements to aim for, but there was no central story for the player to act out. Minecraft was a vast sandbox, ready for gamers to make it their own with mods, skins, and servers.
Today, the modding community for Minecraft is so all-encompassing that it requires its own ecosystem of fan sites to sift through the millions of mods. Websites like NameMC, Nexus Mods and Mine Universe help gamers sift through skins and servers to find the best kit for their save.
How has this impacted advertising? The sheer creative possibilities within Minecraft means that corporations unrelated to gaming can find an audience within the world of Minecraft. Brands like Kellogg’s and Burberry have created virtual tie-in items or worlds to advertise to gamers within Minecraft, all while adhering to the blocky environment.
If you want to make the kind of marketing magic Minecraft did in 2009, reach out to us here. We have an audience of over 110 million gamers waiting to play your title.