Minecraft is a game that probably most people worldwide have heard of by now from popular YouTubers such as Pewdiepie and Jacksepticeye or the kids who play it.
These facts alone are surprising because the game in question was released on November 18, 2011, according to the Minecraft Wiki. This date means that the game is still being played by gamers even after ten years have passed.
So how did the game stay relevant in the gaming community? What are the reasons why the game is still being played today?
Easy To Play
Minecraft is an open-world sandbox game where you control your character and do whatever you wish without much fuzz. According to The Cold Wire, the game is easy enough to understand for young kids to play on their own.
However, the game could be hard to master despite being easy to play.
The difficulty often spikes once you decide to replace simple ways for more complex methods to achieve your goals, such as farming, traveling, and even creating pixel art from different color blocks.
For example, for players to use electricity, they have to complete electrical circuits and power their machines with equipment that uses redstone, a material required to electrically charge various in-game machines.
Some players that have mastered (or at least vaguely understood) the game were able to create mass farming machines and even automatic sorting systems thanks to their understanding of in-game machinery and the use of redstone.
The Spirit Of Adventure
Minecraft is first and foremost an open-world game that allows players to roam around wherever they want. It even has a creative mode that allows players to ignore damage and do whatever they want.
However, not every playthrough will feature the same map and environment. If a player starts a new game, the game's random world generator creates a brand new world for players to explore, meaning that every save game has a different map to wander in and discover.
Players with digital wanderlust will find the game suitable to their needs after they start a new game.
Regular Updates That Add More Content
Similar to The Sims 4, Minecraft can stay alive and relevant to this day because of the constant free updates Mojang Studios releases for the game. According to Sportskeeda, Majoang Studios' devotion and dedication to the game resulted in the release of multiple additional contents every year.
This additional content includes reworked terrain generation, new blocks, material types, and new creatures to be wary of.
One of the more recent releases for the game in 2022 saw the addition of the deep dark and mangrove swamp biomes. The former is home to a hostile creature known as the shrieker, while the latter is abundant with mud blocks, allowing players to create buildings from it.
A Loyal Fanbase
Thanks to its gentle learning curve, randomly generated worlds, and regular content additions, Minecraft has accrued a loyal fanbase that keeps itself updated with the latest news and updates about the game, whether through Mojang Studios' social media platforms or MineCon.
MineCon is an annual convention that gives the Minecraft community the chance to come together and celebrate the game's success and know more updates about it.
Developer-Supported Community Generated Content
Much like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Minecraft has also been kept relevant thanks to the game's many user-generated contents.
In fact, Mojang Studios have given Minecraft's modding community the chance to create mods and express their creativity for the game while making a career out of it.
In this way, Mojang Studios promotes and supports its modding community by allowing it to make money out of creating mods for the game.
These mods include skins, accessories, and even graphics modifications. According to PCGamesN, the most popular graphics mod for the game is Sonic Ether's Unbelievable Shaders mod, which gives Minecraft soft natural lighting, procedurally generated clouds, and even the sheen on every wet surface after a storm has passed.
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