Minecraft fans make more than $1 million selling in-game items through official marketplace

Minecraft fans have made more than $1 million by selling in-game items and add-ons through the game’s official Marketplace.

The service, which was launched in June, lets professional “content creators” sell maps, texture packs and character skins for Minecraft Coins, which players can buy with real money.

The Marketplace was launched with nine creators, and Microsoft has since added three more. They have earned a total of more than $1 million in the past three months, Microsoft revealed today.

“Minecraft has some amazing Marketplace partners, and we’re continually bringing new folks onboard,” Microsoft said. “We started the program with nine folks back in June, and since then have expanded our partner roster to 12, with plans to keep adding more partners.

“The program offers our players a wide variety of community-created content that they can safely and easily access, while also allowing the community to support one another’s work and allow creators the chance to turn their creativity into a way to make a living.”

Packs and maps available on the Marketplace include Dinosaur Island, which lets players raid ruins as they run from prehistoric creatures; and Infinity Dungeon EX, which randomly generates dungeons that players can explore, as well as the Cyber Space Team Pack and a pet-themed skin pack.

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Creators have also released a range of mini-games and kingdoms, including the Summer Mini Games Festival, Wisteria Grove and the Kingdom of Torchwall.

John Thornton, Executive Producer of Minecraft Realms, said at the Marketplace launch in June: “This is a curated marketplace, it’s not open, but we are going to work with creators to bring new ones in via an online portal, where they can apply to join. We think it’s important from a quality perspective to have a curated marketplace where we are reviewing the items and working with creators to make sure the content is appropriate and exciting for players.”

The creators include:

• Blockception – Made a replica map of London that evolves from the middle ages through to the modern day as players progress
• Eneija – Designs pastel skin packs. “I think they will be very popular with segments of our audience,” Thornton said
• Imagiverse – Made a pirate-themed map called “Privateer”, complete with sunken ships and treasure
• Noxcrew – Created a map that allows players to walk around and experience well-known fairytales
• Polymaps – Built Jurassic-themed texture packs, with dinosaurs and Dodos instead of chickens and cavemen instead of villagers
• QwertyuiopThePie – Made a multiplayer map featuring two spaceships, which teams can inhabit before battling each other
• Razzleberry Fox – A talented pixel artist, she has created skin packs featuring everyday heroes such as police officers, firefighters and nurses
• Sphax – Created a pack that makes the Minecraft world look like a comic book
• Blockworks – Constructed a map entitled Skyfair – a collection of floating islands that feature funfair games.

Minecraft is one of the most popular computer games of all time, with more than 106 million copies sold to date – including four to people in Antarctica. Since the beginning of 2016, more than 53,000 copies have been sold every day, and more than 40 million people play Minecraft every month.

Last month saw the beta release of the Better Together update, which lets players on Xbox and Windows PCs team up with friends on Apple and Google devices. This means people can work together to create worlds in the popular block-building game regardless of which operating system they are using – Windows, iOS or Android. The update also applies to Nintendo Switch players and those using virtual reality devices.

Marketplace is available in the Android and Windows 10 beta.