Dear Minecraft,

By the time you read this post, I will have turned twenty, and you will have turned ten, on May 17th, 2019. Amazing, isn’t it?

But wasn’t it yesterday they released you to the public? Wasn’t it yesterday when Steve was not a skin but an entity? Wasn’t it just yesterday I put you into my Xbox 360, loaded up a world and you became an instant obsession of mine? Wasn’t it yesterday you completely changed how we look at games?

Time sure flies when you’re having fun, doesn’t it?

For a while, I debated how to do this. I debated how to say the words that are stuck in my redstone powered heart. How could I express my love for a game like you?

And then I realized:

You’re not just a game.

You’re something more.

When you first came into existence and emerged from the mind of Markus Persson, you weren’t that popular. And then you exploded like a charged creeper. You became huge, and I doubt you could find a person who hasn’t heard of or played you. Over ninety-one million people still turn on their laptops, or their phones, or their consoles to play you. You have more players in a day than even Fortnite. You’re now the number one most bought game in the world with 176 million copies bought across multiple platforms. Even after Mojang was sold to Microsoft in 2014, you’ve maintained your status as a cultural icon and a gaming revolution. You’re doing pretty good for yourself, I’d say.

But why are you so popular?

One reason I think is that while you’re a game whose target demographic is kids ages ten to thirteen, you’re made for everyone who can on whatever platform they have available- a phone, an Xbox, a laptop, to name a few. I’m twenty years old, and I still play you. I have friends approaching thirty who still play you. Another reason you’re so popular? Because you allow the players to be anything they want to be. To look how they want to look and to do whatever they want to do. Want to look like a simple farmer and built a simple house surrounded by wheat fields and rows of sugar cane? Sure, someone could be that. Want to dress like a superhero and pillage a village and murder all the occupants? Yeah- someone could do that (the villagers wouldn’t be too happy though). Want to spawn a dozen zombie pigmen in someone’s house? Yeah- someone could do that. The only limit to you is the player’s imagination.

And it’s not just you that makes you great. You help- but the people behind the scenes help too. People like the coders, developers, directors, and whoever else has made you the job they love. And let’s not forget the fans. Let’s not forget the 140 million people who have bought and downloaded you and the many many more who still play you. Let’s not forget the YouTubers, the streamers — the people who’ve put their experiences of you online for all the world to see.

To me, you’re more than a game- you’re an entire universe of people, pixels, and the kind of magic that can only come of something so loved.

Thank you.

Yours, Always,
Scarlet Noble