Minecraft just had its best year on mobile with over $110 million in revenue in 2018

2 min. read

Published onFebruary 18, 2019

published onFebruary 18, 2019

Share this article

Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report sustain the editorial teamRead more

Even though the launch of Fortnite and PUBG on mobile hugely contributed to the battle royale frenzy last year, these free-to-play games didn’t really hurt Minecraft, one of the most popular paid games on iOS and Android. Indeed, according to new data from app analytics platformSensor Tower(viaGameindustry.biz), 2018 was Minecraft’s most profitable year on mobile with the iOS and Android versions bringing more than $110 million in revenue for Microsoft (up 7% year over year).

Minecraft is a $6.99 purchase on iOS and Android, but there are also lots of in-app purchases to unlock skins and more. “The largest portion of spending in the game last year came from the United States, at 48 percent of the total or approximately $52.8 million. Great Britain’s $7.3 million (about 6.6 percent) was a distant second, while Japan ranked third for spending at 5 percent or approximately $5.5 million,” Sensor Tower’s report notes.

Microsoft’s immensely popular sandbox game hugely benefited from the launch of the new Bedrock version, which brought support for crossplay multiplayer across iOS, Android, Windows 10, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. This is all done through Microsoft’s Xbox Live platform, which Microsoft wants to bring to more iOS, Android and Switch games with anew cross-platform XDK.

According to Sensor Tower, the mobile versions of Minecraft generated $500 million of revenue for Microsoft since 2014. That’s definitely not bad for a game with91 million monthly active users on all platforms, but Fortnite has been doing even better for Epic Games. Earlier this month, Sensor Towerreportedthat Fortnite mobile revenue reached $500 million on iOS in less than a year.

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time).

For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web.

Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they’re looking for.

User forum

0 messages

Sort by:LatestOldestMost Votes

Comment*

Name*

Email*

Commenting as.Not you?

Save information for future comments

Comment

Radu Tyrsina

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low#

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app#

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities#

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount#

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier#

Minecraft just had its best year on mobile with over $110 million in revenue in 2018#

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier

Minecraft just had its best year on mobile with over $110 million in revenue in 2018