Minecraft, the block-building sensation from Sweden, has become a perennial favorite of the gaming world with sales that have made its creator, Markus “Notch” Persson, a celebrity in the game development community.
On Christmas, sales for the title spiked once more, reaching almost half a million units (453,000 to be exact) sold on Christmas day alone. Whether these sales include codes that were purchased prior and not redeemed until Christmas day is unclear, but it certainly portrays Minecraft as one of the most popular games this holiday season, putting it in the company of newer releases such as Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Halo 4.
Part of the appeal surely comes from the fact that Minecraft has a broader demographic than its first-person shooter contemporaries. While parents may balk at buying their children a game filled with blood and bullets, a title such as Minecraft that is both abstract and endearing is likely far more palatable.
Source: Joystiq