Evolution of Minecraft [2009-2023]

Minecraft has been around since 2009 and it has since then grown to become the best-selling video game of all time. For many it has become one of their favorite games where they can explore and build a world beyond their wildest imaginations! This is the Evolution of Minecraft!

Minecraft was created by a Swedish programmer Markus Persson also known as Notch. He created a world where players are free to unleash their creativity and build whatever they can imagine. Persson was inspired by the game Infiniminer. The visual style of gameplay is almost similar,

However Persson also wanted to add RPG-elements to his game. But it all started very simple. Originally, the name of the game was “Cave Man”. Its development phase started in May 2009, and the first version was created in less than a week!

At this stage, many of the later features of the game were not yet included. There were only 2 blocks in the entire game, which were grass and cobblestone. The world was not only very small, but also entirely flat, just like the real world. Don’t worry I’m just kidding.

On May 17 2009, the game was released to the public on the TIGSource forum. On this forum Notch received feedback that allowed him to improve the game. This version later became known as the Classic version, and it had many major updates including a world with hills, trees and lakes.

Players could use different building blocks such as dirt, stone and planks to test their creativity. Besides creative mode, survival was also added where players had to start without any materials in their inventory and gather items, while be aware of the mobs, such as zombies, skeletons, spiders and creepers that could kill you.

Multiplayer was also added so players could enjoy Minecraft together, or could easily ruin each other’s worlds at this stage, by flooding the whole map with water or lava. Fun Fact Creepers are an iconic mob in the game, but did you know that it originated from a failed pig model?

Notch accidentally swapped the length and height of the pig model, which led to the creation of the Creeper. Also the reason why they explode was stated by a video game programmer at Mojang Studios, who said: On December 23, 2009, the third phase of Minecraft’s development continued with the “in development” version.

This was the first “paid version” of the game and players could now use tools, weapons and gather and prepare food, utilize crafting and smelting, and there was a night and day cycle. In 2010 the fourth phase of development started with Infdev, which is short for “infinite development”.

It was named infinite because the world was no longer limited and it procedurally generated more terrain. During this phase 3D clouds, much more complex cave systems and more craftable items were added. Fun Fact The entire Minecraft map has a surface area of more than 4 billion square kilometers. For comparison,

The Earth has a total surface area of 510 million square kilometers, making the map of the game 8 times larger than the surface of the earth! At the time Notch realized that he created a revolutionary and extraordinary game and decided to quit his job to start working

Full time on his own company named Mojang. He even hired some people from his previous company to work for him. During the Alpha stage players could only play survival mode, either in single player or in multiplayer mode for the first time. This version added cows, slime and chickens,

But perhaps most notably it added the nether, which is a hell-like dimension filled with fire, lava and many hostile mobs. At the end of 2010 the final development phase started. The logo was changed to the iconic Minecraft logo we all known today.

Creative game mode was added once again this time with beds, blocks, a new health mechanic with hunger if the player hasn’t eaten for a while, weather effects such as rain and snow and graphical effects including explosions… There were also some new mobs introduced including squid, Endermen, silverfish, cave spiders and tameable wolves.

Fun Fact Enderman was inspired by Slenderman. Notch even acknowledged it himself. On November 18, 2011 a historical moment happened, when minecraft was officially released. “Let’s go to a place, were everything is made of blocks. with the only limit is your imagination.” The official release features the Adventure Update with a focus on exploration,

Combat, and the ability to finish the game by traveling to The End and defeating the Ender Dragon. The game introduced a hardcore mode, where players lose the world’s save data when they die. Among other things new gameplay features, such as breeding, brewing and enchanting were added. Minecraft instantly became a huge success,

And has become one of the most influential and successful indie games ever released. In the first year of its release 4 million copies were already sold. In 2014 Microsoft made a deal with Mojang to buy the company for a massive $2.5 billion dollars.

And keep in mind it all started with just one guy creating a game, this is so inspiring. Shortly after, Notch left Mojang and he hasn’t been involved in the development of Minecraft since. Fun fact Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all times with over 200 million copies sold since its creation!

It sold much more copies than the number 2 and 3 which are Grand Theft Auto V and Tetris respectively. A major update came in early 2012 with Version 1.1. New region worlds were introduced, including beaches. 56 new languages were added such as German and French, and players could also spawn mobs using eggs.

Fun Fact there are two versions of Minecraft, the “Java” and “Bedrock” editions. Both are mostly similar. However the Java edition lets you use mods to enhance graphics, which can be incredibly taxing on your computer’s graphics card and CPU, but can look amazing.

If you’re playing on anything other than a computer, you can only play the Bedrock edition, which also allows you to play with friends on other consoles. Next came update 1.2. The game doubled the height limit from 128 blocks to 256. A jungle region, and two new mobs were added,

Which were the iron golem and ocelot. With update 1.3 players could trade villagers using emeralds. There were also Jungle and Desert pyramids added to the game. Fun Fact If you’re a Minecraft veteran you’ve probably heard of Herobrine. Someone played Minecraft in single-player and mysteriously saw another default skin in the game,

Except that his eyes were empty. The creepy character littered his map with various tunnels and Pyramids. He shared his story on a forum in 2010, but it wasn’t until a streamer named Brocraft randomly saw this character appear in one of his streams. This is when the ghost-like creature known as Herobrine

Became incredibly famous in the Minecraft community. Imagine if during the next Halloween update it says “added Herobrine”. For Halloween Minecraft released the “pretty scary” update. New mobs and variants were added including zombie villagers, bats, witches and wither skeletons. The monsters were also improved to be smarter and stronger,

For example if you would drop a sword an enemy could pick it up. In 2013 the Redstone Update was released. It added a number of new Redstone-related blocks, including the comparator, hopper, daylight sensor and of course the block of Redstone. Fun Fact Since 2013 schools all around the world have been integrating Minecraft

As part of their educational programs. “It makes a lot of sense to take a game that is already fun. That is proven to be enjoyable to kids and try to find a way bring into the classroom.” In 2016 Minecraft even released an Education Edition specially designed for classroom use.

Research showed that the educational impacts of the game were very encouraging. Kids increased their computer-, problem-solving, reading and writing skills and showed a heightened motivation towards school, a development in creativity and autonomy and increased collaboration with classmates. Like the name suggests the Horse update added horses,

Which could be tamed and players could ride them. Update 1.7 allowed using a piston, which is a block capable of pushing blocks, players and mobs. New biomes were also added, such as extreme mountains, flower forests and deep oceans. Fun Fact One of the things Minecraft is known for

Is the amazing creations people have made throughout the years. Wow I can’t believe how dedicated and creative some Minecraft players are! In 2014 the Bountiful update was launched, which added and changed many aspects of Minecraft. Among other things, the update made it easier for map makers to create adventure maps.

It also added many blocks, such as granite, diorite and a slime block. New mobs were added, including Endermites, rabbits, Guardians and a boss-like version of the guardians known as the Elder Guardians. Two years later, in 2016 Minecraft released the Combat Update with a new combat system that had a cooldown delay

So that it is more important to time the attacks. Players can hold things in both hands with dual wielding and shulkers were added. And players can use Elytra, which allowed to glide through the air. It’s almost the same as Wingsuit flying…. Except then in game… Ah it’s still a cool feature I guess.

In 2016 Minecraft also released a free update to Minecraft Windows that lets players experience the world of Minecraft in VR. Fun Fact Throughout the years many creators have made incredible Minecraft fanart, one of those amazing creators is Alan Becker, who created “Animation vs Minecraft”. This animation has a whopping 250 million views

And has to be one of the coolest videos online! I wish i came up with that idea! Also released in 2016 was the Frostburn Update, which added polar bears, husk and stray mobs. It also added new blocks including magma and bone blocks.

With the Exploration update players could use explorer maps to find rare structures, including the newly added woodland mansions. The game also added two kinds of hostile villagers known as illagers. There are Evokers and Vindicators. Oh, and there are Llamas too. Fun Fact Minecraft also has many DLCs, including one for Pac-Man, Star Wars,

How to Train Your Dragon and Sonic. To bring more color to Minecraft the World of Color update was released in 2017. Certain blocks such as Concrete and Glazed terracotta came in 16 dye colors. Besides the red bed, 15 other colors were also introduced to the game.

People on Reddit were invited to a challenge to create the most colorful Minecraft builds and this is what they came up with. The game also added Parrots and the illusioner that is armed with a bow and casts spells. One area that wasn’t used much in Minecraft was the ocean.

The Update Aquatic changed the underwater world from a vast space of nothingness to a new and very interesting world. Many new blocks were added including blue ice, coral and turtle eggs, as well as new items such as the trident. New world regions were added such as coral reefs, icebergs, shipwrecks and ocean ruins.

To fill the oceans with life many new mobs were introduced, including fish, dolphins, drowned, turtles and Phantoms. Next came another exciting update, known as the Village & Pillage. It was themed around revamping villages. The game added cats, foxes, pillagers, ravagers, pandas and wandering traders. New regions were also added including bamboo forests,

Pillager outposts and snowy villages. Fun Fact Minecraft added pandas as part of a collaboration with WWF to raise awareness about the importance of panda conservation. In 2019 came the Buzzy Bees update. It added bees and bee-related items such as beehives and honeycombs.

Minecraft actually added bees to the game to raise awareness about dwindling numbers of bees. “Did you know that bees are one of the hardest working farmers in the world? More than three quarters of the world’s food crops are partially dependent on pollinator like bees.” Be prepared to die often in the Nether,

Because the Nether Update made the hell-like dimension much more interesting and challenging. It introduced four new biomes named, basalt deltas, crimson forests, souls and valleys, and warped forests. It also introduced four new mobs, which were Hoglins, Piglins, Striders and Zoglins. In 2021 Part 1 of the Caves & Cliffs was launched.

It revamped caves and mountains. Caves were given much more variations and mountains could be increased in size due to the new height limit of 320 blocks. It also added amethyst geodes, copper ore among other blocks and 3 new mobs known as Axolotl, Goats and Glow Squid.

The Glow Squid was actually chosen by the community. Everyone could vote for one of three mobs, and the Glow Squid that lights up in the oceans turned out to be favorite. Due to the amount and complexity the Caves & Cliffs update is divided into two parts.

The second part is not announced when making this video. It’s just unbelievable how just one man started a game that is now one of the most popular games in the world. There is so much to explore, fight, learn and create in the vast open world,

That I have no doubt that people from all around the world will continue to enjoy and love Minecraft for many years to come. I would really appreciate it if you can subscribe so we can continue making more videos like this one!