You know the drill by now: Minecraft is massive; it's the best-selling game ever made and is even more popular in 2025 than it was back when it launched in 2011. But following Minecraft, the majority of hyper-popular game releases on that level have been free-to-play games like Fortnite, Marvel Rivals, and Roblox (which did release before Minecraft but grew way more popular in the years since). And despite that, Minecraft has remained a paid title, which has worked. I can't think of a time where I noticed it wasn't in the Nintendo Switch eShop's best-selling list since it launched in 2017.
Speaking to IGN, Mojang producer Ingela Garneij revealed that despite the way the industry is going, Minecraft isn't jumping on the free-to-play wagon. "It doesn't really work with the way we built it," Garneij explained, saying, "we built the game for a different purpose. So monetization doesn't work in that way for us. It's a purchase of the game, and then that's it," and dubbed the game "the best deal in the world."
This sentiment was echoed by Vanilla Minecraft game director Agnes Larsson, who told IGN, "for me, it’s part of the important values of Minecraft. I think it's become such an important thing of what Minecraft is and the perfect culture and values, and I think we all here can agree on that. It's a thing for the game, and it's one part of what makes the game strong. It has strong values.”
Of course, Minecraft has had ways to monetize following the original purchase, with skins, texture packs, and a variety of other additions to the game being available in the Minecraft Marketplace. Plus the game has become a marketing beast with Lego collabs, countless toys, and a Jack Black-led Minecraft movie on the horizon. I'd say Mojang is doing just fine the way it is.
