Minecraft crosses 300 million copies sold as it prepares to celebrate its 15th anniversary

What you need to know

• The last official metric we had for Minecraft's sales was 238 million copies sold, back in April 2021.
• During Minecraft Live 2023, Mojang Studios finally confirmed a new number — Minecraft recently crossed a staggering 300 million unique copies sold.
• The update comes as Minecraft prepares to celebrate its 15-year anniversary in 2024.
• Mojang has teased Minecraft's 15th Anniversary Celebration, with more surprises and reveals to come next year.

It's no secret that Minecraft is one of the best-selling, most successful video games of all time. It's a pop culture phenomenon, known by even the most adverse to technology. However, it has been over two years since Mojang Studios last revealed to players just how many copies of Minecraft have been purchased since the game's debut in May 2009. Now, that changes.

During this year's Minecraft Live event, Mojang Studios revealed that Minecraft recently crossed over 300 million copies sold. That's an unbelievably large number of games in the hands of players all over the world, and keeps Minecraft firmly in its position as the best-selling video game. The impressive milestone comes as Mojang Studios prepares to celebrate Minecraft's 15-year anniversary, which comes in May 2024.

"As we approach the 15th anniversary, Minecraft remains one of the best-selling games of all time, with over 300 million copies sold, a milestone no one could have dreamed of when we were all placing our first blocks," said Helen Chiang, head of Mojang Studios. "Our incredible community has built Minecraft into what it is today and what it will become in the future. We can't wait to share new Minecraft content and experiences in the years ahead."

Just for reference, Mojang Studios last revealed that Minecraft had sold over 238 million copies in April 2021, with more franchise statistics revealed later that year. Since then, there has been silence on that front, although Minecraft Dungeons did reach over 25 million unique players (10 months after it went end-of-life, apparently).

It doesn't end there, of course. Mojang Studios' Lydia Winters took to the Minecraft Live stage to announce that all of 2024 will be the Minecraft 15th Anniversary Celebration, teasing exciting plans for the year to come. While we don't know exactly how Mojang is planning to celebrate 15 years of Minecraft, you can be sure it'll be a grand affair befitting a game with over 300 million copies sold and more than a decade under its belt.

As we mark our 15th year, we at Minecraft want to express our gratitude to our passionate Minecraft community. It is our community’s creativity and dedication that has helped shape this world into something extraordinary," said Kayleen Walters, head of franchise development at Mojang Studios. "As we kick off this milestone year, we eagerly look forward to honoring and celebrating your contributions, stories and adventures. Thank you for 15 amazing years of crafting, building and exploring together. Stay tuned for more updates and surprises in 2024!"

This is far from the only Minecraft announcement to excite the community today. Stay tuned to Windows Central's coverage of Minecraft Live 2023 for all the latest reveals, announcements, and teasers for Minecraft and its expanding universe. Minecraft may be one of the best Xbox games, and it may have outsold basically every other game in existence, but it still can't afford to sit still. There's a lot to come in 2024 and beyond.