15+ Mind-Boggling Minecraft Statistics for the Dedicated Gamer

Updated · May 20, 2023

It’s safe to say nothing in the gaming world caused so much surprise as the rise of Minecraft, created by Swedish designer Markus Persson, aka Notch, in 2009. 

The simplicity and ease of use hooked millions into a creative process of virtual block building. It took the widespread Lego obsession to even greater heights.

Without a doubt, this sandbox multiplayer building game is one of the best-selling video games of all time. 

But is Minecraft still popular?

Quite.

That’s why we at Web Tribunal decided to dig deep into the latest Minecraft statistics.

Here’s a taster:

Incredible Minecraft Stats (Editor’s Choice)

  • Minecraft was created in just six days in 2009 and launched in 2011.
  • Microsoft bought Minecraft for $2.5 billion in 2014.
  • Minecraft hit the 600 million unit mark in 2020.
  • Minecraft’s mobile version alone reached $110 million in revenue in 2018.
  • Over 126 million people play Minecraft monthly.
  • Minecraft has won multiple awards, including Best Family and Social Game Award in 2015, Kid’s Choice Award for Video Games in 2015, and Best Independent Game Award in 2011.
  • Minecraft creator Markus Persson won the BAFTA Games Special Award in 2012.

Minecraft Statistics 2022

The new decade sees MC growing in popularity, with no sign of slowing down.

1. There are 126 million active Minecraft players. 

(Source: Business Insider, Statista)

Minecraft stats from 2018 showed that there were 91 million monthly active players at the time.

But how many people are playing Minecraft right now?

Here’s the scoop:

Microsoft's Helen Chiang told Business Insider that Minecraft had 112 million active players every month in September, a surge of 20 million over figures from October 2018.

And when it comes to how many players does Minecraft have in 2022, the number currently stands at 141 million monthly users.

2. Minecraft sales reached over 600 million copies, 400 million of which are Minecraft Chinese Edition.

(Source: PCGames, The Verge, Sportskeeda, Statista, TechaCake)

How many people made Minecraft?

What started as a one-person project of a developer has grown to 494 employees engaged by Mojang Studios. 

Here’s why:

Minecraft became the most popular video game of all time, with 180 million copies sold as of November 2019.

Since then, as Minecraft statistics show, the numbers have gone up by 24 million copies. As of May 2020, over 400 million copies were sold in China alone with another 200 million units of Minecraft sold worldwide, making it quite possibly the biggest game right now.

In comparison:

The game’s sales were around 50 million when Microsoft purchased it back in 2014.

Unsurprisingly, most Minecraft hours played are recorded in China, where people supposedly spend over five hours a day playing the game.

3. Up to 68% of Minecraft players used PlayStation 4 in January 2021.

(Source: Gamestat)

Looking at how many people play Minecraft on which platform, PlayStation 4 is currently the choice of 68% of players or 51.5 million, as Minecraft stats for PS4 reveal.

28% or 21,5 million players favor PlayStation 3, whereas PlayStation Vita is the preferred choice of only 4% or 3.2 million players.

4. Up to 94% of new players and 95% of trophy earners use PS4.

(Source: Gamestat)

When it comes to new players, Minecraft player statistics show 93% or 650,000 use PlayStation 4. Next, 6% or 43,000 use PlayStation 3, and a mere 0.7% or 5,300 users prefer PlayStation Vita.

What’s more:

Minecraft player stats reveal that up to 94% or 2.3 million trophy earners use PlayStation 4, while only 5% use PlayStation 3, with only 0.5% opting for PlayStation Vita.

Minecraft Demographics

Who amasses all these pixels into glorious structures?

5. The average Minecraft player is a 24-year-old male.

(Source: PCGamesN)

Despite the enormous popularity of the game with children, the average Minecraft player is a man in his mid-20s. This means the player base features a considerable grown-up contingent along with the youngest ones.

6. Up to 54% of boys aged 3 to 12 play Minecraft compared to only 32% of girls.

(Source: The Conversation)

The gender neutrality of Minecraft is a myth since the figures clearly show boys play Minecraft more than girls.

Additionally, up to 53% of children aged 6 to 8 play Minecraft, and over 68% of those aged 9 to 12 are active players. Out of those numbers, 50% report playing more than once a week.

Now:

The disparity is even more prominent when it comes to the next age bracket, where 68% of boys from 6 to 8 participate compared to only 29% of girls.

7. Around 22% of British boys say Minecraft is their favorite game, MC statistics confirm. 

(Source: Statista)

When looking at age and gender Minecraft user statistics on teenagers, boys are slightly more likely to play Minecraft than girls, data gathered in the UK and Sweden reveals. 

Up to 24% of Swedish children play the game (27% of boys and 20% of girls), and around 6% of children in Sweden reported playing weekly.

8. Only 11% of parents play Minecraft with their children.

(Source: The Conversation)

Games do not have to be strictly solo activities. 

And Minecraft is a great example: 

80% of children play in the company of their friends, siblings, other family members, or with other online players. Around 50% of all players prefer this way to playing alone. 

Even so, the number of parents as co-players is very low, just 11%.

(Source: The Conversation, Indian Express)

Game-related content consumption is where the gender gap is at its most prominent. In fact, nearly one-third of boys watch Minecraft Youtube videos, while that was the case for only 9% of girls.

Anyhow, Minecraft videos on YouTube have a whopping 100.2 billion views.

Minecraft Server Stats

Minecraft server hosting is a big thing, indeed.

10. Minecraft statistics show the biggest number of Minecraft servers are US servers.

(Source: Minecraft Statistics)

We can study the Minecraft player base through server numbers as well. 

Here’s the scoop:

36% of servers are located in the US, 20.7% in the UK, and 11.4% in Germany, followed by Russia and France with 6.1% and 4.4%, respectively.

The number of Minecraft servers by country:

  • US - 3748
  • UK - 2137
  • Germany - 1180
  • Russia - 627
  • France - 459
  • Ukraine - 382
  • Canada - 343
  • Italy - 213
  • Netherlands - 113
  • India - 96
  • Denmark - 91
  • Czech Republic - 78
  • Austria - 59
  • Bulgaria - 58
  • Australia - 55
  • Romania - 54
  • Japan & Poland - 47
  • Spain - 41
  • Serbia - 34
  • Sweden - 33
  • Taiwan - 28
  • Norway - 23
  • China - 21
  • Switzerland - 19
  • Greece, Turkey & Belgium - 18
  • Finland - 17
  • New Zealand - 16
  • Slovakia - 15
  • Lithuania - 14
  • Hungary - 13
  • Brazil, Hong Kong & Belarus - 12
  • Estonia, Latvia - 9
  • Ireland, South Korea, Singapore - 7
  • Portugal, Argentina, Uzbekistan & Saudi Arabia - 6
  • Philippines, Israel, South Africa & Slovenia - 5

All other countries have fewer than 5 servers.

11. Daily playing audience exceeded 200,000 on players in September 2021.

(Source: Minecraft Statistics)

According to the latest Minecraft statistics, the number of unique players participating in the game daily is just over 200,000. That's nearly double the players since last year!

You can follow how many people are playing Minecraft at any moment by using the Minecraft live player count tool.

12. Iceland likes Minecraft more than any other nation. 

(Gamestat)

Minecraft facts reveal the game is most popular in the following countries:

Iceland is the country where building blocks are the favored game two times more than anywhere else, making it the leader in playing Minecraft even though its global share is just 0.04%.

Next comes Ireland, where the game is 1.7 times more popular than in other countries. In Finland and Kuwait, Minecraft is 1.5 times more popular than elsewhere. In fifth place comes Norway, where the corresponding figure is 1.4 times. 

13. Americans are the most active Minecraft players, with 21.21% of daily usage recorded in the US.

(Source: PlayerCounter)

Minecraft players in the US are the ones spending the most time on the platforms.

The most Minecraft active players on a daily basis come from the following countries:

  • US - 21.21%
  • Brazil - 6.17%
  • Russia - 5.59%
  • UK - 5.06%
  • Germany - 4.60%

Want to up the count for your country? Check out our best Minecraft server hosting providers and take your world online.

With so many servers and active players all over the world, you might be wondering:

How much money has Minecraft made? 

That’s what we’re going to look into next.

Minecraft Market Share

Where does Minecraft stand in comparison to the other big names in online gaming?

14. Minecraft mobile made $110 million in 2018.

(Source: Business Insider, Venture Beat, Pocket Gamer, Statista)

Sales on mobile amounted to $110 million in 2018, market analysis firm Sensor Tower reports. And no wonder since the Minecraft player count neared the 100 million mark around this time. In total, this version has made an eye-watering $500 million since 2014.

Additionally, 30 million copies were sold on PC in 2019.

(Source: Gamestat)

Here’s the full regional share:

  • North America - 40%
  • Western and Northern Europe  - 33% 
  • Central and South America - 8%
  • Asia - 7%
  • Middle East - 5%
  • Eastern and Southern Europe - 4%
  • Australia and New Zealand * 3%
  • South Africa - 0.3%

16.  Minecraft’s predicted growth for 2020 is around 25%.

(Source: Gamestat, Bloomberg)

Even as old users are rediscovering the game, new ones are falling in love with it. So, it should come as no surprise that Minecraft’s annual growth for 2020 is projected to be a staggering 25%, and it’s expected to go over the total of $600 million.

The thing is:

There are 2,4 million returning players in October 2020 (players who have earned at least one trophy during the previous month).

And that’s not all:

Up to 87% or 62.1 million players have earned at least one trophy during their gaming experience.

In Conclusion

The appeal of simple building blocks that allow the creation of entire worlds is undeniable and spans across all generations.

That’s why Minecraft’s popularity is unlikely to drop anytime soon, as the pool of players is only getting bigger.

Key takeaway:

Minecraft statistics show growth caused by the COVID-19 lockdowns. And as people social distance, they spend more and more time online. Since Minecraft is one of the social games that can be played in the company of others, it’s the perfect getaway in 2022. 

2022 will likely follow this trend, as even virtual classrooms are popping up on many Minecraft servers.

Want to join the Minecraft world with your own server? There are plenty of specialized gaming solutions out there, though VPS hosting or a dedicated server can do the trick if you really want to go all out.  We have an assortment of solutions reviewed on HostingTribunal, so feel free to check them out.

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Branko Krstic
Branko Krstic

Branko is a round-the-clock tech geek and loving it. His ideal vacation destination is the Akihabara District (or really any place he can take his computer). If there’s a server out there, count on him to find out what it’s made of… and tell you all about it.