Minecraft 15th Anniversary Celebration - 15 Biggest Minecraft Moments

(Estimated Read Time: 7 Minutes)

Fifteen amazing years have gone by, and at it’s start was a simple blocky game that somehow went on to change countless lives. So, today, we explore the 15 biggest Minecraft moments in celebration of the Minecraft 15th anniversary. Oh, how time flies!

Minecraft 15th Anniversary Celebration - 15 Biggest Minecraft Moments

May 10, 2009 - Minecraft Begins Development

Inspired by the game Infiniminer, Minecraft began as “Cave Game” before eventually settling on the famous name “Minecraft.” After that, the first official classic release occurred on May 17, 2009, marking the beginning of a journey that would take the gaming industry by storm.

August 4, 2010 - Multiplayer Released

Minecraft is a game like none other, but multiplayer was where its true potential was discovered. Java Edition Alpha 1.0.15, the version that added multiplayer, would lead to every server ever made and countless hours of enjoyment shared with friends and family across the globe.

August 19, 2010 - Herobrine Added

Herobrine added.

August 31, 2010 - MinecraftCon

Most would think the first MineCon took place in 2011, but there was, in fact, one that took place earlier than that! MinecraftCon was a spontaneous gathering of over 50 fans in Washington, DC, due to a blog post by Notch, the original developer of Minecraft. This, alongside a Minecraft server gathering, called MineCon 2010, were the catalysts for the yearly event MineCon and later Minecraft Live!

January 12, 2011 - Minecraft Passes 1 Million Sales

Despite only being in development for a little over a year, Minecraft quickly reached one million copies sold and continued to soar from there!

May 25, 2011 - Minecraft: Pocket Edition Announced

Minecraft: Pocket Edition was an achievement in and of itself, bringing Minecraft to a new platform for the very first time. However, what makes it extra special is that this app would much later become Minecraft Bedrock Edition and be used across every major platform.

June 6, 2011 – Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition Revealed at E3

As we all know today, Minecraft would eventually find itself on every console, but Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition was where it all began. This also marked the first time Minecraft and Microsoft were closely involved together on a product!

November 5, 2011 - MinecraftEdu Released

While Minecraft: Education Edition would not be released until 2016 by Microsoft, MinecraftEdu was an early version developed by TeacherGaming that laid the groundwork for Minecraft in the classroom. Today, Minecraft is being used to teach everything from history to coding in schools across the world, thanks to all the effort those original few teachers put in.

November 18, 2011 - Minecraft 1.0.0 Released

Arguably, the biggest moment in Minecraft’s history was none other than the release of the game itself! The 1.0.0 announcement was made to over 4,500 people at MineCon 2011, and it was there that they learned the update would be coming out that very same day.

September 15, 2014 – Mojang/Minecraft Acquired by Microsoft

By 2014, Minecraft was already one of the biggest games around, and it showed when Mojang and Minecraft were acquired by Microsoft for $2.5 Billion USD. That’s a lot of emeralds!

December 18, 2015 - Minecraft: Story Mode Announced

During this period, Telltale Games was at an all-time high in popularity, so Minecraft getting a story mode crafted by their hands was incredibly exciting! However, it did end up requiring a few reassurances for fans, such as Story Mode’s lore being canon only to their “realm.”

May 13, 2019 - Minecraft Earth Announced

Capitalizing on the popularity of augmented reality, Minecraft Earth was announced with the ambitious goal of allowing players to actively build in the world around them. Sadly, such dreams were cut short by the pandemic, resulting in Minecraft Earth ultimately shutting down.

May 26, 2020 - Minecraft Dungeons Released

Next to join the Minecraft spinoff family was a game called Minecraft: Dungeons. This multiplayer adventure focused on combat rather than the more creative aspects of Minecraft and introduced new mobs and biomes for teams of up to four to explore.

December 15, 2021 - Minecraft Reaches 1 Trillion Views on YouTube

In a landmark moment, YouTube and Mojang collectively announced Minecraft had surpassed 1 trillion views on YouTube! No franchise before had ever achieved such a feat, and in celebration, a since-removed video was released, which included countless easter eggs from the many creators that made Minecraft great.

June 12, 2023 - Minecraft Legends Announced

Finally, we have the announcement of Minecraft Legends! This latest spinoff took the route of a real-time strategy game and revealed more about Minecraft’s lore, assuming you were willing to believe the legends. While Minecraft Legends did not end up being a groundbreaking title, it did show Mojang’s continued dedication to trying new things, making us excited for what the future is yet to bring.

A Celebration’s End

We hope you enjoyed these 15 moments from Minecraft’s history in celebration of the Minecraft 15th anniversary as much as much as we have! It was a blast (from the past) putting them together and a reminder of this exciting blocky journey we are all on together. Until Next Time, BisectHosting =)