Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Minecraft Netted Dev $350k In 24 Hours
Chances are, you’ve heard of Minecraft by now. The indie sensation has been a surprise success in recent weeks, earning developer Markus Persson nearly $350,000 in a single day last week. The game sold 26,000 units on Sept. 22 alone – not bad for a game that’s still in alpha. Even now, 1up reports that someone is purchasing the game every three seconds. If you’re curious about checking out the blocky sandbox for yourself, Minecraft is available to download for €9.95 (about $13.50), but the game will be priced at €20.00 (a little over $27) when it gets to its beta phase.
For the uninitiated, Minecraft is essentially a randomly generated open world. Players move around in a first-person perspective and gather resources from their pixilated environments. Those raw materials can then be turned into items like torches, rails, and windows, or to create structures such as castles and more. Aside from staying alive during the night – a point when exploding zombies and other enemies roam the world – there aren’t explicit objectives. And if its success is any indication, just being an open-ended construction set is fine by a lot of people.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
