What is Minecraft’s stock price, and are they publicly traded? Investors cannot purchase shares of Minecraft because they are a private company. Microsoft (NASDAQ: $MSFT), Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: $ATVI), and Skillz (NYSE: $FEAC) are a few video game stocks that traders can invest in.
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Minecraft Introduction (No Stock Symbol)
Even if you’re not a gamer you’ve surely heard of Minecraft. Officially, it’s the highest selling videogame of all time. It’s sold well over 200 million copies worldwide and over 125 million monthly active users. In terms of video games that’ve passed through the threshold into popular culture, Minecraft is truly an unstoppable force. It has fans in all age groups. The blocky characters and pixelated artwork is the unique style in which Minecraft is designed. And its characters can be found on all different forms of merchandise and even in crossovers into other games.
The Game
But what kind of game is Minecraft? To be honest, there’s no real goal of the game itself. It’s the opposite of a linear storyline in that the world is basically open-ended.
Then players can truly decide how they want to interact with the game and other players as well. The actual term for this type of game is a procedurally-generated game. Which means the world is algorithmically created as players interact with it. Some other popular games that have elements of procedural generation are Elder Scrolls, Roblox, and Borderlands.
There are several different game modes that players can play survival mode and creative mode. Both of which can be played either alone or with other players around the world.
The true beauty behind the game is the creativity that players can use by mining the world for raw materials. Then turning these into tools, items, and eventually things like buildings and other forms of infrastructure.
Minecraft has received near universal acclaim. In fact, they’ve even been named one of the greatest videogames of all time by dozens of video game journalists and websites.
There was even an annually held MineCon convention dedicated to the game that was held by the developer company Mojang.
But this has since been turned into a virtual live stream event for fans all over the world. Can they trade Minecraft stock price?
No Minecraft Stock Price
The closest thing you can get to a Minecraft stock price is to buy shares of its owner. A little tech company called Microsoft (NASDAQ: $MSFT). That’s right. Even though it was developed by Mojang, the intellectual property and Mojang itself were purchased by Microsoft back in 2014; for a sum of $2.5 billion. Specific Minecraft revenues aren’t released by Microsoft. With all of the spin-offs, movies, books, and other merchandise Minecraft has produced, you can be sure Microsoft has more than made that investment back.
So is investing in Microsoft a direct investment into Minecraft? Sort of. Unfortunately for those investors who wish to make an investment in Minecraft, gaming makes up a smaller portion of Microsoft’s revenue than you may think.
Gamers instantly think of the Xbox console systems and all of the revenues it may make from its game sales and Xbox Live memberships.
However, Microsoft’s gaming revenue only made up $38 billion of the company’s over $143 billion in revenues in 2020 and is trumped by things like the Azure Cloud business.
Are There Stocks Similar to Minecraft to Invest In?
The video game industry is well represented on Wall Street. There’s no Minecraft stock price. However, there are certainly ways to invest in the growing popularity of gaming and eSports.
The entire video game industry is worth an estimated $159 billion in 2020. There’s going to be the release of new consoles and the mainstream appeal of competitive gaming.
As a result, that number is only going to continue to rise. Here are a few stocks you can invest in now to ride the wave of the rise of gaming.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: $MSFT)
I know, too obvious right? Without a Minecraft stock price Microsoft is where it’s at. The next generation Xbox console is here. And so too are the millions of Xbox live subscriptions that Microsoft charges its customers.
With such powerful titles like Halo, Gears of War, and of course, Minecraft, the Xbox continues to deliver quality games with its large library of intellectual property. The only issue for Microsoft is this next company.
Sony (NYSE: $SNE)
It’s hard to argue that the Playstation 5 is the premier item to get this holiday season. Sony’s initial sales numbers show the traditionally gamer-heavy market of Japan selling over six times as many Playstation 5s as Xbox Series X consoles at their respective launches.
Sony has long been a leader in the gaming space. With exclusive games like Gran Turismo, God of War, and Ratchet and Clank, it is easy to see why the Playstation is such a popular console. And maybe that’ll tempt a Minecraft stock price.
Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: $ATVI)
One of the largest video game makers in the world, ATVI is a great way to invest in some very popular titles like the Call of Duty series, World of Warcraft, Diablo, and even Candy Crush.
An investment in Activision Blizzard is also a play on the future of eSports and competitive gaming as it owns one of the largest professional video game leagues in the world in MLG or Major League Gaming.
As eSports becomes an even larger part of our mainstream, it has become a popular betting option at online sportsbooks and even as a Daily Fantasy Sports option on sites like DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG).
Skillz (Currently NYSE: $FEAC)
If that ticker symbol looks confusing to you, it should be. FEAC stands for Flying Eagle Acquisition Corporation and is a shell company that has been created to raise capital for an eventual merger to bring a private company to the public markets.
The company in question that FEAC is merging with is a company called Skillz, which is an online mobile multiplayer competition platform. Sorry?
That’s right, it’s a platform on which you can compete with gamers around the world for real money wagers. Remember how the gaming industry is a $159 billion industry?
Well mobile gaming actually makes up over 60% of that revenue and if you think mobile phones are going anywhere, you are sadly mistaken.
Unity Software (NYSE:U)
This company is fresh on the public markets having debuted in September of this year and already has nearly tripled in its stock price.
Unity isn’t your typical play on video games but is a software creator that game developers can use to produce their games.
The Unity engine is popular amongst game developers and can be found in some massive titles like Call of Duty, Pokemon Go, and League of Legends. The thing with Unity is that it has very little competition.
Epic games comes to mind as does Unreal, which is an out of the box visual and graphics engine.
Roblox
Roblox IPO is estimated for sometime in 2020 or early 2021. This one is interesting as Roblox is probably a game that most similarly looks and plays like Minecraft.
While Minecraft is very much about building environments and worlds, Roblox actually provides players with the ability to create their own games within the Roblox engine.
One interesting difference for players and investors is that Minecraft is a one-time purchase while Roblox is free to play with in-app purchases.
Those in-app purchases will be the backbone for the game’s recurring revenue streams which means good things for Roblox as a stock whenever it debuts on Wall Street.
Minecraft Stock Final Thoughts
Minecraft is one of the most celebrated games of all time. In a way, it’s altered the world in terms of video games. And how we can use them as tools for education and development.
If you’re like me, your children probably already love Minecraft. They can pay on their mobile phones, a PC, or a console. And that freedom and creativity that makes Minecraft so appealing is one of its most important assets.
Minecraft is already the highest selling videogame of all time. Don’t be surprised if we see Microsoft continue to pump out updated and different versions of the game as time goes on.
With all of that being said, there isn’t a Minecraft stock price. As long as it’s owned by Microsoft, you shouldn’t expect to see it on the public markets.
One upcoming IPO that can be a comparison to investing in Minecraft is the Roblox stock debut. Now it’ll be one of the only stand alone video games to have its own stock.
Sure, Roblox and Minecraft are rife with intellectual property. In fact, they’re essentially just merchandise producing ATMs at this point. If you want to invest in Minecraft, you’re going to have to buy shares of Microsoft.
But if you want to invest in a video game that has the potential for years of recurring revenues, the Roblox IPO may be right down your alley. Tired of 3D pixels and moving looking to move onto something tangible? Have a look at our 3D printing stocks list.
