Minecraft Marketplace creators have made $1 million in 2 months

Since acquiring Minecraft in 2014, Microsoft has worked to turn the beloved brick-building phenomenon into its own platform, and those efforts have led to the company paying out $1 million in earnings to community members who are creating and selling digital items in the Minecraft Marketplace. Microsoft launched the program during this past E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo trade and fan event in Los Angeles) in June — although I won’t let anyone forget that I predicted this was coming back at E3 2016.

The Minecraft Marketplace is part of a shift that enables Microsoft to plan the long-term future of what is likely its most popular and important gaming property. While Minecraft continues to sell well on smartphones, consoles, and PC, Microsoft likely doesn’t want to wait for those sales to fizzle so it can make a sequel. Instead, it has found a way to expand the game’s content while also generating an ongoing revenue source from its massive audience of players. This will fund regular updates, which will benefit both players who use and ignore the Marketplace.