Minecraft in 2025: is it still worth playing?

At this point, it’s tempting to pose the question: is there anybody, here in 2025, who hasn’t yet played Minecraft? At last count, some 300 million copies had been sold, making it one of the best-selling video games of all time.

The only thing that beats it is Tetris, which has been out for way longer, anyway. But it’s still pretty mind-blowing that a small indie game that began as a one-person passion project could go on to dominate the gaming landscape, with a legacy that endures more than 15 years on.

It almost feels a bit passé to still be talking about Minecraft, given its well-documented and enormous success. It’s like asking whether you should still play Super Mario. Most gamers, even ones who haven’t played it, are already well aware of what Mojang has contributed to the gaming world.

But it’s often a good idea to take a step back with these things, to remind ourselves why the games we play endure for so long (Skyrim being another example). With that in-mind – and just in case there are people reading this who aren’t familiar – let’s look at why Minecraft is still worth playing in 2025.

Minecraft‘s future is far from over

When Microsoft bought Minecraft back in 2014 – effectively turning its creator into a billionaire – the game was only just beginning. I mean, it was already hugely successful (it had sold over 17 million copies by the end of 2012), but these were still technically the early days

True, the game was already enjoying success on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 – as well as on PC where it started – with Xbox One and PS4 versions coming just days before the acquisition. But Microsoft buying the game has led to a pretty enormous explosion in terms of content.

Just recently, it was announced there would be new cow variants, ambient desert sounds, and new bushes coming. These don’t sound terribly exciting, admittedly, but it shows that Minecraft is still being tended to after a decade and a half.

And that’s just the tip of the very blocky iceberg. Since 2014, there have been a ton of updates, including the long-awaited Caves and Cliffs. We’ve also had a slew of new mobs, and there have been several more ports, including for the Wii U, Nintendo Switch, and the PS5 (but not Xbox Series X|S, for some reason).

There are still a lot of things to come, some of which exist outside the physical game, including a couple of Minecraft theme parks. Then there’s the upcoming live-action movie starring Jack Black. But let’s not talk about that.

In short: we’re nowhere near done with this thing.

Minecraft‘s replay value and universal appeal

One of Minecraft‘s greatest strengths, in my eyes, is its appeal to all audiences. Yes, on the surface, it seems like it’s more suited for children, but I imagine the kind of person who says it’s “just a kid’s game” is also the kind of person who denies themselves a delicious and colorful cocktail because it’s “not a proper drink, innit.”

My point is that anyone can play Minecraft. Parents and children gather to boot up a world they’ve been constructing and exploring together. It’s being passed down to the next generation. My young nephew has started playing it. Likewise, I know plenty of people in their 30s and above who keep going back to it.

The reason it has such universal appeal, even today, is because of the endless gameplay possibilities. Even from the very first iteration back in 2009, it was obvious that Minecraft had a lot to give. It has, quite frankly, perfected the open-world game mechanic that caters to all sorts of play styles, whether it’s building or gathering resources; mining or crafting.

It’s essentially LEGO in digital form, and who could resist the urge to pick up a few bricks and start constructing if given half the chance? It has a calming approach to gaming (save for a few hostile mobs) that you don’t often get in modern titles. Minecraft endures because it just goes, “here, have fun with this.”

Mods only add to it

Ah, mods. How I enjoy talking about them. Though I’m ashamed to admit I don’t install as many as I’d like. Mainly because I have an aging laptop that’s possibly close to death at this point. Shh, it’s okay, laptop. We’ll get through this.

Anyway, as if Minecraft wasn’t near-infinite enough in its vanilla format, there are so, so many mods out there that stretch things beyond any kind of mental comprehension. Everything from texture packs that change how the game looks to adding in custom role-playing stories to weather changes to… this monstrosity.

Of course, you don’t need to modify Minecraft in order to get the most out of it. In fact, you can probably play the standard game for years and still discover new things. But I’ve also tried to champion the efforts that fans put into customizing games, whether it’s to improve on what the developer released or just because they can. You don’t need to justify it sometimes.

What I’m saying is that Minecraft already offers an assortment of ways to keep you glued to the game as soon as you install it. But what’s the harm in making it “infiniter” (do you like my new word)?

So, is Minecraft worth playing in 2025?

Look, I can see that this is coming across as a bit of arse-kissing. I’m not intending to say that Minecraft is the perfect video game (it’s no Streets of Rage 2, for starters). I know it has its faults and, quite frankly, not everyone’s a fan to begin with. To say nothing of the controversy surrounding its original developer…

But my girlfriend and I recently got back into the game, having basically just let it gather metaphorical dust on my Xbox. There’s something to be said for a game that you can keep coming back to, even if you don’t have any lofty ideas of what to do when you actually log in.

But whether you like Minecraft or not, the fact that it’s still pulling in players some 15 years after it was released, the fact that it’s the second biggest-selling game in history, the fact that it doesn’t discriminate against who it feels should be playing it, the fact that it keeps growing in terms of official content and updates…these are the reasons it endures.

That a live-action movie adaptation is coming out says something about Minecraft‘s longevity. Okay, maybe it’ might be’s a little too late; the hype for the game has definitely waned over the years and traditional media is typically slow to catch on. But the game’s broad appeal and replay value is something a lot of studios would give anything for.

So should you still play Minecraft in 2025? To paraphrase video game critic Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw: it’s worth remembering that sometimes there’s a reason why something is so popular.