Minecraft Passes 2 Million Sales Mark

Markus Persson's indie sensation Minecraft continues to taking the online gaming community by storm, passing the two million sales mark just months after hitting the one million milestone. Minecraft has been in development since 2009, and sees players constructing buildings, tools and other objects out of blocks. Since a paid alpha version was released early last year, the game has become a surprise online hit. The beta version of the game, which went on sale on December 20, sells for €14.95 ($20). Prior to that, the alpha version sold for €9.95 ($13). Players who purchased the alpha version received the beta version automatically. Persson, known online as "Notch," last year formed the indie studio Mojang Specifications, which is continuing work on Minecraft. He noted the latest achievement in a blog post, saying, "We also passed two million sales! That’s HUUGE, and as usual I’m not quite sure how to deal with it!" The game surged past one million paid customers in January. Back then, the game was selling around 7,500 beta units every day, and generating almost $150,000 in sales. As of today, over 10,000 purchases are made each day -- the equivalent of $200,000 a day. There are also seven million registered users, which translates to a 28.5% conversion rate. In a September interview with Gamasutra sister site IndieGames.com, Persson was surprised about the game's explosive popularity. "I don't really know why it has sold so well," he said.