Claim: Minecraft is a creative building game.

Minecraft is a sandbox video game created and designed by Swedish game designer Markus `` Notch '' Persson , and later fully developed and published by Mojang . The creative and building aspects of Minecraft enable players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D procedurally generated world . Other activities in the game include exploration , resource gathering , crafting , and combat . Multiple gameplay modes are available , including a survival mode where the player must acquire resources to build the world and maintain health , a creative mode where players have unlimited resources to build with and the ability to fly , an adventure mode where players can play custom maps created by other players , and a spectator mode where players can fly around and clip through blocks , but can not place or destroy any . The PC version of the game is noted for its modding scene , where a dedicated community creates new gameplay mechanics , items , and assets for the game .   Minecraft received praise from critics , and won numerous awards and accolades . , over 121 million copies have been sold across all platforms , making it the second best-selling video game of all time , only behind the various releases of Tetris . In September 2014 , Microsoft announced a deal to buy Mojang and the Minecraft intellectual property for 2.5 billion , with the acquisition being completed two months later .