2026-10-30
100 Great Products · #35 | Minecraft: No Plot, No Goal, Decade-Old Graphics—How Selling 'Land' Instead of a Game Moved 300 Million Copies
[DO AI PM 100 Great Products · #35] In early 2009, Swedish indie programmer Markus 'Notch' Persson coded a blocky prototype in his apartment over a weekend. It had no story, no princess to rescue, no tutorial, and 16x16 pixel textures that looked a decade out of date. Fifteen years later, it has sold over 300 million copies—making it the best-selling video game in human history. Because what Minecraft sells is not a game, it is a piece of land.
