One of the big reasons for Minecraft’s immeasurable success over the past few years is its explosion in popularity on YouTube. Countless players have shared Minecraft YouTube videos ranging from the most mundane tasks to playing The Hunger Games on massive custom maps, and many of those videos are monetized with advertisements that puts money into the pockets of players that publish them.
Unrest is spreading throughout the burgeoning Minecraft YouTube video community with the recent news that big, bad Microsoft is purchasing Minecraft creator Mojang for a whopping $2.5 billion. The thought is that Microsoft, the same company that was on the verge of launching Xbox One with heavy DRM restrictions until public backlash changed their plans, would want a cut — or all — of the advertising dollars being raked in by Minecraft videos on YouTube. It’s a valid concern, especially considering some of the bigger Minecraft video publishers either supplement or earn their entire income from the videos.
Microsoft could have let this uneasiness drag out until after the deal with Mojang was finalized, signed, sealed and delivered. Instead, they noticed the chatter, understand the importance of YouTube to Minecraft’s success, and addressed the growing concerns in a public space.
Phil, Spencer, the top dog of the Xbox division at Microsoft, shared a very simple tweet today that will be music to the ears of Minecraft YouTube video publishers everywhere.
Minecraft YouTubers, you’re a great part of Minecraft’s success and we have no plans to change what you’re doing once we close the deal.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) September 19, 2014
Of course, “no plans” is not a promise that Microsoft won’t crack down on Minecraft copyright infringements sometime in the future. For now, at least, Minecraft YouTube videos will live on and hopefully continue to prosper.
