China's F2P Minecraft Reaches an Incredible 100 Million Users
If you had forgotten, Minecraft is a very big deal.
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Minecraft is a global phenomenon. This has been made even more obvious by the news that the Free-to-Play version of the game released in China has reached an incredible 100 million users.
Minecraft started its climb to obscene sales figures back in 2009, going on to sell over 144 million units on all platforms and become a Microsoft property between then and now. The 100 million uses figure, reported by Pocket Gamer, significantly boosts the game's overall user base.
Released by NetEase in collaboration with Microsoft, the F2P version of Minecraft released to the Chinese market on PC in August 2017. This was followed by an iOS version in September 2017, and an Android version in October of that year. While the NetEase version of Minecraft is free to play, it includes an in-game currency so players can make purchases.
Recently Microsoft and Mojang revealed the Aquatic Update, which adds lots of new water-based features, with more coming in a second update later on. Minecraft has been used in education with a lot of success. We reported earlier in the year that the game had helped teach 85 million students the basics of coding.
For more on Minecraft, check out our Best Minecraft Mods Guide. It's got our picks for the coolest mods you can add to the game, from visual packs to a grappling hook.