The resurgence of minecraft
the resurgence of minecraft
The video game is still relevant today after its peak in 2009
Anish Vasudevan
Anish Vasudevan
Immediately after coming home from school, senior Justin Moore has only one thing on his mind — Minecraft. When he can’t sleep, or has any amount of free time, he plays the game. Since third grade, Moore has been a Minecraft enthusiast, enjoying the rush that comes from creating and building objects from his imagination.
Minecraft is an adventure video game of generated worlds with various terrain made up of blocks and interactive objects. Selling 176 million copies of the game through many gaming consoles since its release in 2009, the game has had a spike in popularity recently. According to Forbes, there has been an increase in Minecraft’s popularity in 2019, more than other games like Fortnite.
Minecraft is an adventure video game of generated worlds with various terrain made up of blocks and interactive objects. Selling 176 million copies of the game through many gaming consoles since its release in 2009, the game has had a spike in popularity recently. According to Forbes, there has been an increase in Minecraft’s popularity in 2019, more than other games like Fortnite.
While Moore says his obsession with the game is unique, Minecraft has made a resurgence as a popular game among students at MVHS since its peak in 2009. According to junior Gwyneth Do, who started playing the game in middle school, Minecraft is an escape for MVHS students from tedious school work.
“[Minecraft] can be must be a way to let stress off because there's a lot of stress that MVHS students have to go through,” Do said. “Even though it's an older game, the nostalgia of [playing] it is what people like.”
Junior Arul Chauhn says the reason for this spike in interest is because of the interest in other popular games decreasing.
“The Fortnite craze was happening for a while, but then many communities started noticing that the Fortnite community itself was full of really toxic kids,” Chauhn said. “There were a lot of Reddit posts saying Fortnite is bad and they were saying to go back to the original games like Minecraft and Terraria and all those older games that were still around today.”
“[Minecraft] can be must be a way to let stress off because there's a lot of stress that MVHS students have to go through,” Do said. “Even though it's an older game, the nostalgia of [playing] it is what people like.”
Junior Arul Chauhn says the reason for this spike in interest is because of the interest in other popular games decreasing.
“The Fortnite craze was happening for a while, but then many communities started noticing that the Fortnite community itself was full of really toxic kids,” Chauhn said. “There were a lot of Reddit posts saying Fortnite is bad and they were saying to go back to the original games like Minecraft and Terraria and all those older games that were still around today.”
Chauhn also credits the growing attraction to Minecraft because of the constant updates by Mojang, the company behind Minecraft, and their multiplayer servers.. These servers, or realms, allow players to collaborate with each other while building in their various game modes, or compete with each other in mini games. According to HyPixel, which features 35 mini games that are continuously revamped, the server attracts around two million players every month.
“I like playing on servers more, because you're with a lot of other people,” Chauhn said. “You can communicate and interact with other players. [My friends and I] hosted a server, actually paying for it. We would do random stuff like survival mini games, which was really fun.”
Although servers draw a lot of players in the game, Moore says he instead enjoys building a world by himself, only taking suggestions from his friends about what to create. Moore’s fondest creations include an amusement park with a roller coaster, ferris wheel and circus games as well as a Lululemon store.
“Minecraft is just a good pastime,” Moore said. “There’s just so much you can add to the game to make it more you and tell parts of your personality.”
“I like playing on servers more, because you're with a lot of other people,” Chauhn said. “You can communicate and interact with other players. [My friends and I] hosted a server, actually paying for it. We would do random stuff like survival mini games, which was really fun.”
Although servers draw a lot of players in the game, Moore says he instead enjoys building a world by himself, only taking suggestions from his friends about what to create. Moore’s fondest creations include an amusement park with a roller coaster, ferris wheel and circus games as well as a Lululemon store.
“Minecraft is just a good pastime,” Moore said. “There’s just so much you can add to the game to make it more you and tell parts of your personality.”