Packaged 3" action figure; 'Creeper' (from Minecraft), made by Jazwares, China

Packaged action figure, a Minecraft 'Creeper'. A green, fully articulated creature, long and upright in shape with a cube for a head and a frightening face, and a 'skin' of pixellated green. Included in the pack is a red, grey and white plastic cube marked 'TNT', and a grey teardrop-shaped object. These are packaged in a clear blister-pack adhered to a card backing, printed with Minecraft characters and information.

Purchased by the MoC in 2015 [2015/516].

Minecraft was created by Swedish games designer Markus ‘Notch’ Persson. At its most basic, it is a first- person, open-world sandbox game, in which players build constructions out of textured cubes. There are no specific goals, players are given freedom to choose how they would like to play the game. Cubes with different textures represent different resources, which are needed to craft items and create players’ constructions. Hostile creatures, such as zombies, attempt to hinder the player when gathering resources and building. Non-hostile creatures, such as chickens, can be hunted for food and materials. The game passed 1 million purchases less than a month after it entered its beta phase in January 2011, despite having had no commercial advertising. By the time of its release in November of the same year, Minecraft had been purchased 4 million times and had 16 million registered users. The game has generated an enormous following, especially among children and teenagers, and it has created much discussion around the positive, creative role which can be played by video games. Mojang, the publisher of Minecraft, was acquired by sector giants Microsoft in November 2014 for $2.5 billion.

The ‘Creeper’ is a hostile character encountered in the Minecraft world. It attacks the player by creeping up on them, then exploding. It was apparently created accidentally by Markus ‘Notch’ Persson, as he wrongly programmed the code to create a pig. However, sprite has become the most recognisable and marketable character, and is usually seen as the mascot of the series. The physical merchandising of video games goes back almost to the origin of video games themselves, good examples being the Pac-Man board game (1980), or the countless Super Mario branded products of the 1980s and early 1990s. The ‘Creeper’ appears on merchandising such as toys, homeware, clothing and personal accessories.

Minecraft was created by Swedish games designer Markus ‘Notch’ Persson. At its most basic, it is a first-person, open-world sandbox game, in which players build constructions out of textured cubes. The ‘Creeper’ is a hostile character encountered in the Minecraft world. It attacks the player by creeping up on them, then exploding. The sprite has become the most recognisable and marketable character, and is usually seen as the mascot of the series.

B.93-2015