An Introduction to Minecraft

1. What are the uses and gratifications of Minecraft? Give specific examples of how the game entertains, helps audiences identify with others and educates.

Minecraft entertains due to the fact that it is a game by nature. It also has different modes and mini games which mean that different audiences that gain entertainment from each other will likely be able to find entertainment in Minecraft and its many modes. Minecraft has over 60 million users worldwide and so many people are able to identify with others and meet new people over the game. Due to the increase in popularity of Minecraft YouTubers as well it is now easier for fans of the game to find others who enjoy it as much as them. Minecraft can also be used for education because it enable sit users to learn basic building and electronic skills in creative mode. Stephen Reid (founder and teacher at Immersive Minds) goes schools and introduces and promotes Minecraft as a viable educational tool where he gets students to build robots.

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Minecraft being owned by Microsoft?

Microsoft buying Mojang and Minecraft in 2014 for $2.5 billion means that future development in the game will have substantial monetary funding and so it will probably mean an increase in the quality of developments. It will also mean that the development of the non-PC gaming platforms such as Xbox and PlayStation will probably be updated to the advanced level of PC Minecraft. This will probably be important for Microsoft as it owns Xbox. A disadvantage is that the developers will probably have to make sure any changes are approved by Microsoft and so this may mean less creativity with updates or it may mean that the developers are less willing to update. However, many people (including Stephen Reid) are hopeful after the Microsoft purchase that it will not change greatly due to the extremely strong community that Minecraft has.