Mojang shared the latest sales numbers for Minecraft on Wednesday. In the process, the independent studio revealed a surprising fact concerning the sales rankings of the game PS3, Xbox One, and PC versions of the popular sandbox title.
It’s already a known fact that Minecraft: Pocket Edition has outsold the PC version. It currently sits at more than 21 million units sold as of the start of April with the current number probably around 22 million. However, now the console version ( PS3 Edition and Xbox 360 Edition ) have exceeded the PC sales numbers despite being released much later.
zomg over 13 million copies of Minecraft sold on Xbox360 and over 2 million copies sold on PS3. Yey! Thanks all for the awesome support!
— Daniel Kaplan (@Kappische) June 25, 2014
The PC version has sold almost 15.8 million copies, according to the official Minecraft stats page. Mojang data analyst Patrick Geuder confirmed that “ Minecraft console editions together just passed Minecraft for PC/Mac.” That puts the PS3 and Xbox 360 version of the game around the 16 million sold mark.
Geuder also revealed that Minecraft has sold almost 54 million copies across all platforms. That further solidifies the title’s spot as the third best-selling game of all time behind Tetris (143 million) and Wii Sports (82 million).
Despite the fact that the PC version of Minecraft is now in third place in sales, it is still very much the lead platform for Mojang. Update 1.7.10 is being released today to enable command blocks on Realms servers as well as upload your local worlds to servers. Release 1.8 is not far behind, and snapshot releases have revealed new underwater mobs like the one-eyed Guardian as well as underwater dungeons to explore and new items to find like Prismarine blocks, shards, and crystals.
Meanwhile, fans of the console versions of Minecraft are still waiting to receive updates, such as horses and firework crafting, and will likely never see command blocks. Still, the PS3 and Xbox 360 have the advantage when it comes to local multiplayer thanks to splitscreen support and getting together with friends is also easier thanks to the Playstation Network and Xbox LIVE.
There are also three new consoles that Minecraft will arrive on to compete with the PC – the PS4, Xbox One, and PS Vita. Console developer 4J Studios is currently working to bring the game to the two next-gen consoles and handheld this August. The PS4 Edition and Xbox One Edition will sport worlds that are about 32 times larger than currently exists on consoles and will cost only $5 to upgrade for existing owners. Additionally, PS3 owners of Minecraft will get the PS Vita Edition for free.
Of course, there’s also a Minecraft movie coming out as well to ensure total market saturation. Now if only something could be done about a Wii U Edition .
[Original image via Mojang]