Minecraft: gaming’s fastest-growing phenomenon?
Michael Wolf- Tuesday, December 11, 2012
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While here in Silicon Valley all you tend to hear about is the latest Angry Birds or social game on Facebook, perhaps the biggest gaming phenomenon of the past couple years has been the sandbox game called Minecraft.
This week I had a chance to talk to the CEO of Mojang, the makers of Minecraft. CEO Carl Manneh told me the company will reach $200 million in revenue this year and has sold 5 million copies of its mobile version.
That’s impressive, but here’s really why Minecraft is a big deal: It’s becoming one of those rare properties that parents love as much as kids, in particular in the world of education. Manneh told me the organization MinecraftEdu has put half a million copies of Minecraft into schools, and the Minecraft-education connection is only beginning. The company is talking to the Swedish government and other governments in Europe, as well as working with third-party organizations in the U.S. to get Minecraft into schools stateside.
As Scott Smith suggested over at Quartz, Minecraft is on the verge of becoming something big in education.
Take a listen to my conversation with Mojang’s CEO to hear more about Minecraft in education and all things Minecraft.
