Minecraft made $33 million in revenue so far

Minecraft

We already had an inkling that the indie hit Minecraft has been financially successful. Just how successful, you may ask? The answer is somewhere around $33 million in revenue from 1.8 million users, reports Gamasutra.

Creator Markus "Notch" Persson responded to a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" question, saying the game sold roughly 800,000 in alpha for €9.95, then over 1 million beta versions at €14.95. A little math wizardry puts the total revenues at €23 million, or $33 million.

Persson notes that some is removed for PayPal and taxes, but he says "it's still a huge wad of money." At the same time, he isn't living too lavishly. "It all ends up in an account somewhere, and I try not to look at it. I get a normal salary these days for day to day stuff, but there's a big pile somewhere."

So now that Persson is an IGF award winner and a bona fide Richie Rich, he's in a good position to give advice to aspiring developers. "Start with just making games to get used to it," he said in the Reddit thread. "Focus on the details. What makes a jump animation feel good? What is a good main menu? Try to finish a few projects."