Minecraft has sold over 350 million copies since its launch in 2011, making it the best-selling video game of all time, according to Business Insider. It's also raised a generation of software engineers, coders, and developers.
Colin McDonald started playing the game when he was just 13. Now 25, he runs Moonsworth, a 50-person software development company that's created a popular Minecraft modpack among other things.
"Almost every single person who’s ended up being a really good hire has been someone who was a kid playing Minecraft and wanted to teach themself how to program,” McDonald told Business Insider. "It’s just other kids who grew up and kept their passion for creating.”
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McDonald and his staff aren't the only Minecraft devotees who have used the game to launch their careers. Plenty of others have launched solo ventures or full-fledged businesses inside and outside of the Minecraft universe.
Some of the more lucrative channels include Minecraft servers, which allow for multiplayer gaming, and dedicated YouTube channels. The Minecraft Partner Program, which enables creators to sell original in-game features, is also a profitable option. Since it was established in 2017, Business Insider reports, it has generated over $500 million in revenue, and some 43 partners have earned over $1 million in payouts.
Other Minecraft devotees are taking the problem-solving, technical, and entrepreneurial skills they learned inside the game and utilizing them in companies completely unrelated to the Minecraft universe.
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“The surge of Minecraft entrepreneurs tells us something profound: the new economy doesn’t reward rigid credentials. We’re moving from a degree-based economy to a skills-based, portfolio-driven one,” Jessica Lindl, author of “The Career Game Loop: Learn to Earn in the New Economy,” told Business Insider. “For young professionals, that means building, sharing, and iterating your way into opportunity — just like in your favorite sandbox game.”
The 25-year-old founder of WiseHosting, Lauri Lifljandski, credits Minecraft with making him a skilled programmer and sharpening his entrepreneurial spirit. “Minecraft is basically a crash course in problem solving and creativity,” he told Business Insider. "You learn to adapt and think outside the box.”
"You fail a lot in Minecraft, but you keep trying and improving,” he continued. “That mindset is huge when building a business from the ground up.”
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McDonald feels similarly, telling Business Insider, "Minecraft has the perfect set of factors to find young creatives, motivate them to teach themselves technical and entrepreneurial skills, and provide monetization options when they’re ready to turn it into a career.”
If Lifijandski, McDonald, and thousands of other Gen Z Minecraft aficionados-turned-entrepreneurs are anything to go off of, maybe the pre-teens spending hours on the game each day aren't just wasting time. Maybe they're spending valuable time acquiring the skills needed to land gainful employment in this day and age.
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