If you enjoy interacting with other humans, sleeping more than three hours a night, and bathing from time to time, do not play Minecraft. It’s one of the most engrossing and addicting computer games to come along in some time.
What is Minecraft? You might not able to figure that out from the developer’s own website. But if you’re like most avid players, you probably discovered the game through a social network like Reddit, where its popularity is exploding.
The game itself is a giant “sandbox” — that is, an open-ended creative environment where you’re free to create and destroy what you will at virtually any scale, using the resources in the game world. There are no princesses to save or points to score (though there are monsters that come out at night to kill you and wreck everything), yet the game is still raking in millions of dollars.
Beyond Minecraft’s engrossing mechanics and the story of its rise, there’s something else unique about the game: It’s not finished. In fact, it’s still in “Alpha” mode, and is constantly being updated and improved by its lone Swedish developer Markus Persson, known as “Notch” to his legions of online fans.
Why are hundreds of thousands of people purchasing and obsessively playing a game that’s nowhere near final development? That you can credit to the social web.
Simplicity and Community
The grand experiment began in May of 2009, when Persson, according to his website, quit his day job in game development to focus on creating something “simple yet dynamic.” Developed in Java and playable via a browser or a downloadable client, Minecraft’s “lo-fi” graphics and procedurally generated environments are minimally taxing for most PCs, meaning just about everyone can join in on the fun.
In June of last year, the game became available for pre-order, which meant that for €9.95 (about US$13 at the time of writing), you could start playing the game as it was being built. The purchase then entitles you to every subsequent update and release, including the final retail version, which will eventually sell for €20.00.
This set the stage for community investment in a living, breathing product. By purchasing an account, you not only get to enjoy the game, but fund its development, and to some extent have a voice in the process via the burgeoning (and wholly “unofficial”) community. Fast forward to September 2010, and the game has sold nearly 300,000 copies to the tune of $3.8 million. Not bad for just over a year’s work.
Has this model for game distribution — selling an unfinished product to fund its very development — been done before? Yes, says Michael Rose, a writer for IndieGames.com, who interviewed Persson about the game’s development. “There have actually been several cases of this happening, especially in recent times, but perhaps not on the same scale as with Minecraft,” Rose noted. “For example, late last year indie developer Terry Cavanagh began taking pre-orders for his retro platformer VVVVVV, and in turn gave access to the early beta for anyone who paid. Terry was very open on his blog, stating that the money from the pre-orders was helping to fund the rest of its development.”
Andrew Webster, a tech and gaming writer who interviewed Persson for Ars Technica notes that, “In the age of frequent patches and updates, most games are an evolving and constantly changing experience. But I can’t think of any that achieved such a high level of success in such an early state.”
So how does one man develop a game and provide support for the thousands who have paid good money to play it? He doesn’t — that’s where the community comes in. Ongoing issues, news, and game updates are curated by the thousands of fans who discuss gameplay and development on the World of Minecraft forums, the Minepedia (a wiki-style resource where most go to learn how to play the game), on Reddit and on other unofficial haunts.
There’s plenty for fans to discuss, since Persson codes in the open and keeps players apprised of updates via his Tumblr blog, and recently via Twitter as well. He even maintains a public to-do list of the bugs he’s squashing and ideas he’s planning to implement.
With a window into the day-to-day development process, the community is highly invested, and you can’t pay for better social marketing than that.
The “Look What I Made” Effect
Gaming videos on YouTube are nothing new. But the Minecraft culture is pretty keen on sharing its in-game accomplishments in photos and video.
“It’s definitely key,” said Webster of the game’s social success. “People are making incredible things in Minecraft, and this in turn makes other people want to play so they can create incredible things of their own.”
Incredible might be an understatement. While many players are content to build log cabins, high towers, or underground lairs where they can safely spend the night away from zombies and exploding enemies called “creepers,” some have invested countless days building huge recreations of historic architecture like the Parthenon, or the temple at Chichen Itza (above). Others build their homes underwater, or amid complex underground minecart transportation systems. Using the game’s advanced “Redstone Circuit” system, some players have even constructed rudimentary in-game computers, capable of basic calculations, such as this arithmetic logic unit, or ALU.
An then there’s this: A deliciously nerdy 1:1 scale recreation of the Starship Enterprise, made of stone, complete down to the official blueprints themselves. While it should be noted that this feat was achieved with 3D modeling software and then imported into the game, the results are no less compelling.
“I know plenty of people who have bought the game simply because they saw something amazing on YouTube and wanted to get in on the action,” said Rose, underscoring the important role social media has played in Minecraft’s success. “There’s no doubt that it’s a fantastic game, however without social networks, potential customers would only have screenshots and info from the main site to go off, and those alone would most likely have not been enough.”
What It Means for Indie Game Development
Minecraft’s skyrocketing success is rare, to be sure, but it’s a hopeful sign that the right recipe of game mechanics, accessibility, and community involvement can make independent projects financially viable on the web. In a world where everything’s free online, Minecraft provides value worth paying for.
“I have no doubt that many indie developers will now be looking carefully at how exactly Minecraft has become so popular, and trying to recreate this success for themselves,” said Rose. “Over the next year, we’re bound to see plenty of online, retro multiplayer games and sandbox-style builders appearing all over the place.” He also foresees established game studios trying their hand at the genre as well.
“I’m hopeful that Minecraft will serve as an inspiration for other indie developers,” said Webster. “Creating a game on your own, especially one as complex as Minecraft, not only takes a lot of hard work, but it’s also very risky. But Markus’ astounding success shows that it can be worth all of that effort and risk.”
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Reviews: YouTube, reddit.com
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