Minecraft: A classic example of popular trends reviving a once popular game. When it was first released, it was the hottest game to ever come out. A simple yet unique game. There was no clear objective in the game. It was an infinite world with the capability to do anything. No fancy graphics, no violent gore. How did such a simple game become so popular across the world? Today, let’s look at the rise, fall, and rise again of Minecraft.
Minecraft was initially released as Minecraft Classic in 2009. It looked like this:
A far cry from the current state of the game. It had crude graphics, unintuitive controls, and terrible world generation. But it was a smash hit. Features upon features were stacked until, in 2011, version 1.0 was released.
This game was on the charts, and it was going crazy. It quite literally popped off. Interest grew exponentially. Console versions came out, mobile versions came out, you couldn’t go on the internet without seeing Minecraft. Subcultures grew around the game, such as speedrunning, minigames, PvP, and LPs. It seemed that Minecraft could never fall.
But as most good things do, the game didn’t last forever. In 2016, the game dropped in interest, favoring more trendy games such as Fortnite. For 3 years, Minecraft stagnated as a low-interest dead game. Only serious players would play the game. But then something insane happened. Minecraft rose back from the dead.
It all started with Pewdiepie. In June 2019, he released a video called “Minecraft Part 1”, in which he plays a survival world. This instantly brought back the community of Minecraft. Then, riding off the revival of Minecraft, Keemstar started an event called Minecraft Monday. It was a PvP/Minigame based game in which popular youtubers fought each other. There were teams of 2, and the winners of the event get 5k each. On week 1, a relatively unknown youtuber and his friend won the event. His name was Technoblade.
Technoblade was a hardcore Minecraft PvPer since 2014. He gained popularity from his videos on the SkyWars gamemode on Hypixel in 2016, Minecraft’s most popular gamemode at the time. He then went on to dominate BedWars, a newly released game. He got on the leaderboards, and got the largest winstreak of 1000 that wasn’t dethroned for a long time to come.
He got an invite to Minecraft Monday, and absolutely destroyed everyone there. Over the event’s 14 week run, Techno won 4 times and placed on the leaderboards almost every time, even though the event hosts teamed him up with weak teammates.
He didn’t stop there, however. He joined Skyblock, Hypixel’s most popular gamemode to this day, and raced im_a_squid_kid to 500 million potatoes farmed, and won using mind games and tactics. He also participated in a event called MCU, and beat the record for most kills in an event and won a 15v3 in the deathmatch.
Then, Dream happened.
Dream was a prominent figure in the Minecraft community, known for speedrunning. However, he started a youtube channel, and went from 9k to 1m in record time. He grew his channel from doing popular challenges, such as the manhunt challenge. The manhunt challenge is when Dream tries to beat the game but his friends try to hunt him down and kill him.
People couldn’t help but wonder, who was better? Dream, the renowned speedrunner known for his tactics, or Techno, known for his raw PvP and skill?
That question was soon answered.
Mr. Beast, a popular youtuber, created a $100k duel between Dream and Techno. Now, we need to establish something. In Minecraft, there are 2 types of PvP. 1.8.9 PvP, and 1.9+ PvP. In 1.8.9, you needed to click as fast as possible to hit your opponents as much as possible to kill them. In 1.9+ PvP, you need to time your hits. Techno mained 1.8.9, and Dream mained 1.9+ PvP. So a compromise was made. 10 rounds, 5 in 1.8.9, and 5 in 1.9+. The duel was the biggest gaming duel of all time. Who won?
Techno won. They split the prize, but it was a close fight. There was months of preparation and training for these duels.
Then, the Dream SMP happened.
SMP means survival multi-player, and SMPs have been made in the past. However, there has never been an SMP as popular as the Dream SMP.
Many youtubers blew up from the SMP, such as TommyInnit, Hannahxxrose, and Purpled. This is the most popular Minecraft has ever been.
So this is where we are today. Has Minecraft peaked, or will it keep going? Who knows?
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned!
Note from the author: This article was written in 2021 on my old blog on medium. I am reposting it here for archival purposes. This article has been modified to fit the new blog.