Minecraft, a game that first released in 2009, is making its way back into the spotlight in 2019, ten years later. But why is Minecraft suddenly making waves again?

Minecraft was largely successful in the 2011-2013 era, being one of the most played games at the time, if not the most. However, as its player base grew, so did the divide between different players. Older players began to leave the game due to the increase of a younger player base.

Due to children having more time on average to play the game, they ended up winning this dispute between the two player bases. For much of 2014-2017, Minecraft was considered a “child’s game” by many, which was considered bad.

However, due to the rise of games like Fortnite and Apex Legends, with similarly large player bases, the same issue occurred. A younger, growing player base emerged for those games as well. Like they did before, most of the older player base left.

Nostalgia also plays a large role in this revival. Many reminisced of their time playing Minecraft, when they were younger. As nostalgia usually does, it draws people back into something they once did. Due to this, Minecraft’s popularity gained a huge boost in 2018 and 2019. Although the game did already still have a large player base, averaging 70 million active players a year, the majority of those were from the younger player base.

When players were drawn back to the game, many were encouraged to make content related to it. Many YouTube videos or jokes on social media relate to Minecraft now, and it is making a wave of popularity for the game once again. It could be speculated that due to the increase in popularity, history may repeat itself again. However, for the time being, Minecraft has made its way to the top of the game popularity charts again.