Minecraft XBLA Sales Reach 5 Million In 2012

Minecraft has undoubtedly taken the gaming world by storm — it's unique gameplay elements have made it a popular choice among casual gamers all around the world. It turns out that as of December 31, 2012, Minecraft sales in the Xbox Live Arcade store alone reached 5 million during 2012, according to the game's developer for Xbox 360.

Developer 4J Studios tweeted the news on New Year's Eve, saying that the Xbox 360 edition of Minecraft "passed 5 million sales." A week prior to that, Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson tweeted that the game had sold over 453,000 copies on Christmas Eve alone, through both PC copies and the Xbox Live Arcade.

Another tweet from 4J Studios today announced that the development team has returned to work and is working on fixing a handful of bugs brought on by Minecraft's Title Update 7, which launched last month. The team has promised that a patch for the update will be released sometime this month.

Title Update 7 introduced animal breeding, potion brewing, experience points, enchantment tables, and new biomes and items. Title Update 8, which is still in development, will bring "The End," a floating island made of Obsidian, a material called End Stone, a home to a high concentration of Endermen creatures, and a boss called the Ender Dragon.