Just three days ago was the official 10th birthday of Minecraft.
The game, now owned by Microsoft, has been a massive hit over the years, attracting serious concept builders as well as casual players and kids. Apparently, it may have sold the most copies ever by a video game -- ever.
Images courtesy: Microsoft
Microsoft recently made an announcement for Minecraft via an Xbox Wire post. To celebrate the game's decade of existence, the company announced it's sold more than 176 million copies over time. That makes it possibly the best-selling video game of all time.
Tetris is considered Minecraft's closest rival with regards to the number of copies sold. According to Windows Central, older versions of the game sold a collective of about 70 million copies. Meanwhile Electronic Arts has previously said its mobile version sold 100 million copies, before going free-to-play. There's probably some overlap there, but even combining the two numbers as is gives Tetris fewer sales than Minecraft.
Another close competitor that's easier to compare is Grand Theft Auto V, the series' most popular title. And yet, even that game has just sold 110 million copies since it's release in 2013.
Frankly, that's not too surprising either. Minecraft has over time been made available on a number of different platforms. Though it was originally released for PC, it's over time made its way to the Xbox, mobile platforms like Android and iOS, and even the Nintendo Switch.
It's also really fun. I myself play the blocky survival builder till date, and it's a blast with friends. It's also fairly common to also see major artworks being built in the game's creative mode, like Helm's Deep from LotR, and more recently even the Notre Dame Cathedral.
In celebration of the milestone, Microsoft also announced it had a new surprise for fans. They're soon going to be releasing a new app for smartphones, that they call 'Minecraft Earth'. It's a free-to-play augmented reality game very similar to Pokémon Go.
The game will supposedly use themes similar to the Niantic game, including encouraging players to move around the real world to play. However, it will also focus on bringing the mechanics of Minecraft to real life
The closed beta for Minecraft Earth will launch later this year on both iOS and Android.