Minecraft still gains around 300,000 new players a day, Xbox boss reveals

More than 300,000 try Minecraft for the first time every single day.

That’s according to Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, who announced on Twitter/X over the weekend that despite 17 years and 425 million copies sold, “Minecraft is still finding new players”.

“Today at Minecraft Live: Dungeons II, our first new dimension in more than 14 years, new ways for creators to build, Minecraft on Nintendo Switch 2, and more,” she wrote.

“More than 300,000 people play Minecraft for the first time on an average day. After 17+ years and 425M+ copies sold, I love that Minecraft is still finding new players and giving longtime ones new things to discover.”

ICYMI, Minecraft’s Switch 2 port initially leaked through an ESRB rating back in June, before Nintendo confirmed it days later in a Direct showcase – though without offering a release date. It took until last month for the developer to officially confirm a 27th October release date for the Switch 2 version.

While existing owners of the game on Switch 1 will be able to upgrade to the Switch 2 version, the upgrade does not appear to be free. This is, of course, something of a pattern for Switch 2 games; Nintendo already requires paid upgrades for the likes of Zelda, Kirby, and Metroid Prime 4, whilst Square Enix sometimes skips the option of an upgrade path altogether.

Yesterday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella praised Xbox’s ongoing “streamlining” under Xbox CEO Asha Sharma just days after another round of layoffs hit the division.