Coronavirus 'Minecraft' graduations, education downloads
Coronavirus 'Minecraft' graduations, education downloads
Coronavirus 'Minecraft' graduations, education downloads
By Todd Martens
May 18, 2020
Summary
"Minecraft," the Microsoft-owned game known for its user-driven content, creative use of blocks and monsters that come out at night, has been at the forefront of mainstream games that utilize educational content.
The studio's "Minecraft: Education Edition" has for the last few years played host to virtual curricula that have allowed students to visit and learn about global monuments, sharpen math skills, understand coding or take puzzle-filled explorations to places as varied as the human body or a NASA-approved jaunt into the International Space Station.
In March Microsoft made an assortment of "Minecraft's" popular educational tools available for free, with easier access for all players via the "Minecraft Marketplace."
"The example right now of universities and college campuses," says Chiang, discussing "Minecraft" graduations at schools around the globe, "It actually would have been really difficult for us to re-create all these colleges. The fact that we have a tool that passionate Berkeley students can go build their campus, and passionate MIT students can build their campus, that's where the magic happens. It is not that we do all of these things."
Almost daily we discover inventive tactics that users are wielding - not just via "Minecraft" or "Fortnite" but also "Animal Crossing," Nintendo's friendly, task-filled game that has become a coronavirus-era phenomena.
"Minecraft," which is turning 11 and is considered by many to be the top-selling game of all time, has now sold more than 200 million copies, says Chiang, and boasts 126 million active monthly players.
While "Minecraft's" popularity has never been in doubt, as Mojang Studios gets deeper into the game's second decade, the company has been looking to expand the "Minecraft" brand.
Mojang recently released the augmented-reality mobile game "Minecraft Earth" and on May 26 will issue the hack-and-slash game "Minecraft Dungeons" across multiple platforms.
Chiang also sees the company continuing to experiment with bringing "Minecraft" to players outside of the core game, as witnessed by "Minecraft Earth" and "Minecraft Dungeons."
"Our players have been telling us for years that they want more versions of 'Minecraft.' The most popular question is, 'Where is"Minecraft 2"?' There really isn't a 'Minecraft 2,' but options like 'Minecraft Earth' and 'Minecraft Dungeons' are ways we can continue to build out the 'Minecraft' franchise.
Reference
Martens, T. (2020, May 18). 'Minecraft' is for learning? In COVID time, 50 million downloads of free education content. Retrieved May 20, 2020, from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2020-05-18/minecraft-college-graduations-free-education-downloads