Chapter 226: Millions of Sales
The sales figures for Minecraft have been published on the second day of the winter holidays.
Thanks to the initial promotional activity, especially the unique videos that feature "Along the River During the Harvest Festival," the "Forbidden City," a piano, and a calculator, Minecraft gained significant popularity before its official launch. Add to that the relatively affordable price and the one-month pre-sale period, and all these factors led to explosive sales.
Minecraft sales in 24 hours: 3,212,231 copies.
3.2 million copies sold on the first day. To say that this is unprecedented is a bit of an exaggeration, but at least it is the best result in recent years.
While the price of Minecraft was only two digits and there were some tricks involved, the 3.2 million copies sold on the first day are undeniable. In addition, what has amazed many designers in the industry is the incredible gameplay of Minecraft and the excellent reviews from players.
After the pre-sale trial ended, the rating of Minecraft was 9.0 points, neither very high nor low. But now it has reached a peak of 9.8. An incredible figure.
Although it had already been said before, the strong publicity of Minecraft also had a revolutionary effect. Even many non-players know of its existence.
In addition, the first pre-orders made many designers in the industry think that Minecraft would have a higher sales volume on the first day. But when the sales of 3 million were announced, everyone was shocked.
"My goodness, Alex is incredible! So many sales for a pixel block-building game!".
"Forget about block games, his block games look like this!".
"It's mainly thanks to the incredible marketing of Minecraft!".
"Yes! It's the first time I've seen a game with such ambitious marketing."
"It's a classic example of marketing!".
"It's impressive, but I feel that only Minecraft could achieve it. It's completely useless."
"Yes, Minecraft can be promoted like that because of its gameplay mechanics. Common games cannot replicate it."
The industry designers who have been following Minecraft were impressed. Inside the Voyage project room of Aether Games, after receiving a statistic from Minecraft, Ethan breathed a sigh of relief.
At first, he really wanted to give Minecraft a try, especially after the trial ended. But the subsequent promotion of Minecraft finally made him reconsider and he decided to persevere for a while, even if he wasted the initial promotional resources.
In retrospect, it was a brilliant decision!.
After all, the video game industry can be fascinating. No one can predict what will happen. A highly anticipated blockbuster can suddenly fail, while a smaller game can suddenly achieve global fame.
These cases happen almost every year. In addition, Alex himself has an impressive track record, having created countless miracles.
Along with the immense popularity of Minecraft and its impressive content presentation, Ethan was also extremely cautious, and now it seems he has taken a brilliant step!.
In a month, the buzz around Minecraft should have largely subsided. By then, his game, Voyage, will be safer. The video game industry's attention to Minecraft clearly has nothing to do with the players themselves.
For them, re-entering Minecraft and experiencing it reveals more and more to them. From not knowing anything at the beginning, to building a furnace with stone, learning to use it to roast food and melt iron ingots, armor, and weapons. From initially only being able to dig a hole to bury themselves, to digging a cave and becoming a caveman. At the same time, some players also discovered that the small animals in the game can be domesticated with food.
Over time, players discovered the joy of the game.
Of course, there were also tragic moments. For example, someone died in the wilderness with a mountain of materials, only to discover their whereabouts and recover them.
After painstakingly building a cozy and warm home, they ventured into the wilderness only to find their way home, still alive, but already dead.
To make sure they found their way back and avoided getting lost, many players built tall structures inside their houses as beacons or placed directional beacons along their journeys.
Of course, even more hopeless situations arose: some players painstakingly built a house, slept all night, and opened the door to find a Creeper crouching. Without realizing it, a white light and chirps appeared.
Meanwhile, posts and videos about Minecraft flooded various communities and video platforms.
"My first Minecraft experience: A basic tutorial to help you understand how to play!".
"Dig three, fill one, cavemen, using local materials: Which of these have you done?".
"Practical tutorial on how to build a duplex villa!".
"MC Infrastructure Team: Restoring the Great Wall!".
The posts on the main video websites and communities usually go from the basic to the advanced. Initially, they were mainly tutorials for beginners. They were mainly about players who mastered the basic rules of the game, offering a basic introduction. However, as players became familiar with the game, more and more videos with diverse content appeared. There were funny parodies, house-building techniques, and simple guides on how to survive in survival mode.
Meanwhile, Minecraft was a huge hit on the main live streaming websites, with many streamers broadcasting the game in their free time.
Of course, countless players played Minecraft in their own way. Some simply considered it a pixelated construction game, playing in creative mode or on peaceful servers to build structures with like-minded players. Others saw it as a survival adventure, gathering supplies and carefully exploring the unknown.
Some players considered it a unique multiplayer game, forming groups and actively developing it.
Meanwhile, others saw it as a tourist game, admiring the magnificent structures created by Alex, as well as those that other players had opened.
Of course, there were also online discussions, such as that of players who, with good intentions, opened their servers but did not configure them as indestructible, which led to malicious vandalism.
'There are evil people among the audience!'.
But compared to other games, Minecraft is possibly the least aggressive. Even multiplayer mode, which is more prone to causing conflicts, is much more harmonious than in other games.
Alex did not pay much attention to it. After all, where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and the players' problems must be solved by themselves.
Over time, external organizations quickly compiled the subsequent sales data for Minecraft.
First-week sales reached 10.12 million copies, with 8.62 million weekly active players. While the popularity of Minecraft had been evident for some time, the publication of these figures shocked everyone.
'What was happening? 10.12 million copies sold in the first week and, even more crucial, the staggering figure of 8.62 million weekly active players? What madness!'.
For some highly promoted games, first-day sales can account for the majority, even half, of sales. But this rule seems to have been broken with Minecraft. Its performance is incredibly stable.
In the two studios of NetDragon and Aether Games, Mark and Ethan, although they did not collaborate, were skeptical when analyzing the Minecraft data.
Ethan, in particular, had originally planned to wait a month after the launch of Minecraft before launching Voyage. He had already planned the promotion of the next launch with limited resources.
But the growing popularity of Minecraft scared him. Although he expected the sales of Minecraft to be impressive, the tens of millions sold in the first week left him stunned. Although the price of Minecraft was not high, it was only the first week! And it seemed that its popularity showed no signs of decreasing, even surpassing that of Fall Guys.
'If this growth rate continues, won't Minecraft become the best-selling game of all time?'.
In addition, the supposed sandbox gameplay of Minecraft is completely different from the essence of the previous industry discussions! At that moment, he felt a little confused.
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