The mobile version of one of the most popular games of all time hits a huge new milestone.
Minecraft: Pocket Edition recently crossed over the 30 million downloads mark, a number that developer Mojang jokes is “bigger than Texas” and “23 times hotter than the sun.” This is a true sales landmark as Minecraft: Pocket Edition is a paid premium game, priced at $7 on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Amazon Kindle Fire. The news surely serves as justification for Microsoft’s $2.5 billion spend to acquire Mojang and Minecraft last September.
It could be that the popularity of mobile devices and tablets as gifts this holiday helped Mojang pull in download numbers that rival some free-to-play games. Just after Christmas, data from App Annie showed that Minecraft: Pocket Edition was the second-highest grossing iOS game worldwide, outearning popular apps such as Game of War and Candy Crush Saga.
For being a game that debuted in 2009, Minecraft continues to do well. As of today, according to Mojang’s real-time counter, the original PC/Mac version has more than 18 million purchases. Minecraft is also available on Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita.