About 13 years ago, in May 2009, Minecraft began its unstoppable journey, taking over the game video industry and becoming one of the best-selling and most successful games of all time. More than a decade later, Minecraft continues to attract millions of monthly active players, making headlines with every move and update, and becoming a game recognized by hundreds of millions of people around the world. Although the global heat is very high, it is in a tepid state in China, and there is a certain degree of heat, but it has not yet reached the peak.
However, with so many amazing gameplay videos released all the time, does Minecraft still have a point of playing now? It may be one of the greatest games of all time, but is there a reason for new and existing players to return to Minecraft in 2022? I think of course it will.
The state of Minecraft in 2022
While it's one thing to assert that Minecraft is the greatest game of all time, it's another to back it up with data. Luckily, the Minecraft series has a multitude of impressive stats that reflect its overwhelming popularity and long-term playability.
As of August 2021, Minecraft has over 141 million monthly active users, a huge achievement combined with amazing game engagement, with more than 1 billion hours of login time for online multiplayer games and $350 million in revenue generated by community-created content. However, Minecraft also has the power to surpass its game, as it was also the first game to garner more than 1 trillion views on YouTube.
No matter how many years Minecraft has been around, fans and players will still spend time in games and consume a lot of Minecraft-related content, not taking into account Minecraft's vast creative community, Minecraft peripheral toys, and Minecraft derivatives.
Minecraft is dominated by a "game video" and its state is the best ever.
That's not to say that Minecraft's status has never been shaken. Not always the best-selling game, and in some periods, the discussion of this influential game will stagnate. Still, Minecraft is a dominator of gameplay video, and any trough won't last long. In 2022, Minecraft is at its best ever, with consistently impressive engagement and continued to appear on the industry's "best-selling" list.
In 2022, most players will enter Minecraft through the Cave & Cliff Update, a huge version that greatly changes and enhances Minecraft's Overworld (especially the Underground Caverns) and brings dozens of new features and hundreds of variations. The two-part update dominated 2021 and sparked a wave of discussion about new content in the Minecraft community, and overall, it's an excellent release that adds a lot of content to Minecraft.
Mojang isn't going to sit still, though, and is already taking the next step in developing My World. The Wilds Update won't be as extensive as its predecessor, but will still include new mobs (such as the Terrible Guardian), new biomes, tons of additional features and items, and more. Expected to arrive later this year, the Wilderness Update is something players must look forward to.
Minecraft now requires a Microsoft account to play, bringing additional security and account management features to the previous Mojang account (now defunct); Minecraft: Java Edition and my World Launcher are now directly available from the Microsoft Store and included in the PC version of XboxGamePass; Minecraft: Bedrock Edition (multi-platform contains mobile) beta is expanding to more platforms, Become more convenient and accessible.
My world is still the greatest
Being widely regarded in any way as one of the "best games" is no easy task, and it's even more incredible to do it over and over again on multiple platforms. Minecraft is available on almost any platform, and the full-featured version is available on Xbox, PC, PlayStation, NintendoSwitch, Android and iOS mobile devices, and macOS and Linux devices, and it's one of the greatest games in every game.
The Caves & Cliffs Update is divided into two different versions in 2021, greatly increasing the size and diversity of My World. Mountains are taller, spawn more realistic peaks, and can provide visually stunning vistas; caves are more diverse, have multiple unique biomes, and make Minecraft's "mining" more exciting and fun. None of these major changes deprive players of agency in any way, but rather provide players with a better world of play.
Even after such a long time, Minecraft still ensures that the player is always in control
Players who haven't played Minecraft in years or just learned about Minecraft indirectly will still find Minecraft in 2022 still superficially familiar, but with plenty of new features and major additions hidden beneath its surface. Mojang wants Minecraft to continue to be as approachable as it was when it was first released, while continuing to deepen the game's mechanics over time, allowing players to develop knowledge and skills as they play. This balance means minecraft can appeal to players of all ages and skill levels; younger or less skilled players can use Minecraft's basic gameplay, while veteran players can dig deeper into the various details hidden below.
Whether you like farming, mining, building, exploring, fighting, fishing, collecting, or something else, Minecraft has it all to offer. If you're tired of the features included in Minecraft's "Original", you can also easily enhance its diversity of gameplay through the options created by the countless communities in Minecraft Marketplace, mods, or interactions with servers, game modes, events, and more.
No matter how long you play Minecraft, you can shelve it for months or even years. The emotional reason makes you open it again one day in the future. When you return, Minecraft may not be quite the same as the last game you played, but it's still very familiar and very easy to pick up and fun.
Compared to other popular games, some long-time Minecraft players may condemn Mojang's seemingly slow pace of updates. Mojang isn't in a hurry to attract players with massive amounts of content because it needs to know that it has created something special. Each update of Minecraft has been carefully considered and executed with the aim of making My World a completely unique design concept in the gaming world.
It will never be perfect
Minecraft in 2022 is divided into two different versions: Java Edition and Bedrock Edition. Each has a purpose, and each captures the uniqueness and particularity of my world. While older versions of Java Edition retained mod support and improved servers, it was limited to a few platforms. Bedrock Edition abandoned mod support and relied on Realms for servers, while Minecraft Marketplace is used for community-created content, but it also enjoys excellent cross-platform compatibility and multiplayer support.
However, the differences between the two versions of Minecraft go far beyond that. There are thousands of differences in the problem, large and small, that detract from the consistency of my world and further widen the gap between the two versions for a long time. Over time, Mojang has worked to address these differences, but it seems that the studio is fighting an unwinnable war.
The advent of new minecraft features can feel slow at times, and the lack of support for new gaming hardware in games is frustrating.