Minecraft attracts more than 112 million players per month

Minecraft mansion woodland

(Image credit: Mojang)

There's this game called Minecraft and it's really popular. According to Minecraft studio head Helen Chiang, over 112 million people play it per month. That's a third of the population of the United States, and the Australian population is a sixth of that figure. If you had 112 million donuts, and divided them up between 10,000 ibises, each ibis would have 112,000 donuts each. That's too many donuts by anyone's measure.

Chiang revealed the figure in an interview with Business Insider, adding that the game has grown and endured for over ten years because it's something people will always return to, even if they put it down for a few weeks to play something else. It doesn't hurt that Minecraft is now available on virtually every device with a screen, and that Mojang keeps updating the game with stuff like bees and harmony and hope.

Better still, the game is advancing with the times: it's getting ray tracing support soon, and if you're the type to turn their nose up at Minecraft's graphics you may be surprised by how good it looks. That said, not every leap forward comes to fruition: the game's Super Duper Graphics Pack was canceled recently for being "too technically demanding".  

And people keep doing the damnedest things in Minecraft, such as creating an in-game Reddit browser, or watching movies on in-game TVs.

Image

Minecraft house ideas: Base inspiration
Minecraft mansion: Big house blueprints
Minecraft cabin: Snowy abode ideas
Minecraft castle: Massive medieval builds

Shaun Prescott
Australian Editor

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.

Read more
minecraft diamond level sword
Minecraft's never going free-to-play because as it stands it's 'the best deal in the world'
Various creations in Minecraft, including computers and calculators.
This Minecraft creation blots out the sun for the villagers below, they surely praise it as God, but we know it really to be a functioning 32-bit computer with 2 kB of RAM
The G-Man, The Heavy and Widowmaker hanging out
PC gamers spend 92% of their time on older games, oh and there are apparently 908 million of us now
A banana, on its own, in an orange void.
That Banana clicker game is somehow still one of Steam's most-played games, with 100K+ concurrents seeing it consistently outranking the likes of Call of Duty and Helldivers 2
Palworld Pal hammering on rocks with a pickaxe
'He was trying his best'—Palworld had a lone server guy trying to keep the game afloat during its 2 million player launch
Hello Kitty and Friends DLC in Minecraft
As if I needed any more reason to jump back into Minecraft, a Hello Kitty and Friends DLC has been released
Latest in Survival & Crafting
An Enshrouded player in a recreation of Erebor from The Lord of the Rings
Kings under the Mountain! 33 Enshrouded players spent 10,000 hours to recreate this iconic location from The Lord of the Rings
An April Fool's Day Palworld game concept about dating Pals
From Palworld movies to Palworld TV shows: 'Everyone under the sun pitched us every idea you can imagine,' says Pocketpair's communications director
Pacific Drive Endless Expeditions spring 2025 update trailer still - a sexy, tricked-out 1980s station wagon being blasted with magic healing electricity
Pacific Drive developers change their mind: A year after refusing to give it mid-run saves, it's getting mid-run saves
minecraft diamond level sword
Minecraft's never going free-to-play because as it stands it's 'the best deal in the world'
New shaders in Minecraft following Minecraft Live 2025
In the year of our lord 2025, Mojang is finally adding shaders to Minecraft, making reflective lighting and water effects more accessible for all
A dried ghast, a ghastling, and a friendly ghast all smiling
The latest Minecraft Live uncovered the tragic truth of the Nether's most bothersome mob, which has unlocked new levels of guilt
Latest in News
A screenshot from SaGa Frontier 2, showing one of the protagonists wandering through a quaint fantasy village
One of Square Enix' most underrated PlayStation-era JRPGs just shadow dropped on Steam
The titular character from Princess Mononoke is depicted riding the wolf goddess Moro and carrying a spear.
Studio Ghibli AI image trend floods social media, cheered on by OpenAI and denounced by critics as an insult to Hayao Miyazaki
Marvel Rivals tier list - Wolverine
Marvel Rivals director says a future patch will reduce the shooter's insatiable hunger for RAM: 'It's a very big problem'
Hogwarts Legacy potions professor holding a potion
An unannounced Hogwarts Legacy expansion and 'definitive edition' have reportedly been cancelled
Story of Seasons - A cahacter in a purple tuxedo stands outside in a town square talking to the player
Story of Seasons is doing another Harvest Moon remake and it might be the best the series has ever looked
Assassin's Creed Shadows change seasons - An upper-body shot of Yasuke looking cheerfully up into the distance.
Assassin's Creed Shadows puts up the 'second highest day-one sales revenue in Assassin's Creed franchise history'