The world's best-selling video game is now 15 years old, and Xbox is celebrating with over two weeks of gifts and fun

Zachary Boddy
·2 min read
Minecraft Village and Pillage Update.
Minecraft Village and Pillage Update.

What you need to know

  • Minecraft's began its life around May 10, 2009, and saw its first public appearance on May 17, 2009.

  • Now, the survival-crafting behemoth is the best-selling video game of all time 15 years later.

  • To celebrate the legendary game's birthday, Mojang Studios and Xbox are hosting 15 days of gifts and fun.

  • This includes a free Character Creator item for each of the 15 days, but more goodies and events have been teased.

Minecraft may now be the best-selling video game of all time, but it still had modest beginnings. Development on the survival-crafting game began around May 10 in 2009, with the game's first public release being on May 17. Since then, the game has enjoyed 15 years of content updates, spin-off games, new platform releases, expanding feature sets, and much more. Nearly ten years ago, Minecraft even became a part of the Xbox family.

So, how are Mojang Studios and Xbox celebrating this momentous milestone? Well, we already know that Minecraft is getting a ton of new in-game paintings and music as a part of the Minecraft 1.21 'Tricky Trials' Update, but Minecraft's creators certainly aren't stopping there.

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A brief teaser trailer reveals that Mojang is planning 15 days of celebration for Minecraft's birthday — one day for each year Minecraft has dominated the video games industry. For over two weeks, Mojang is inviting the community to enjoy an assortment of themed gifts and discounted items, presumably mostly from the Minecraft Marketplace, with each day highlighting a different year of Minecraft's history.

Mojang Studios isn't rushing to reveal every surprise, but the studio has teased a varied plethora of presents for the Minecraft community. One thing we know for certain is that each day will gift a new free Character Creator item to players. There will also be other exclusive freebies and discounts to celebrate Minecraft, with Mojang using words like "watch," "share," "play," and "explore" to describe the gifts. Here's hoping Mojang Studios and Xbox have something big planned for Minecraft's actual birthday beyond free Character Creator and Marketplace items, though.

Minecraft players already got quite the treat recently, though, with the surprise release of new wolves and armadillos in the Minecraft Armored Paws update. A lot more content and Minecraft's 15 new celebratory paintings are also arriving later this year, and you can read our Minecraft 1.21 'Tricky Trials' update FAQ for more info on that.