MineCon (initially referred to as MinecraftCon) is an annual Minecraft convention held by Mojang Studios. The first MineCon was held in 2010 and conventions have been held almost every year since. The official MineCon website can be found here.
2010[]
MinecraftCon[]
MinecraftCon 2010 was a spontaneous gathering of Minecraft fans on August 31, in Bellevue, Washington. It was conceived by Notch after expressing in a blog post[1] several requests for a meet-up by players and had called on the community to organize one with no specific choice of venue. More than 50 people turned up at the gathering.
MineCon[]
MineCon 2010 was a gathering of Minecraft fans on a Minecraft Classic server. This Minecraft Forum thread was an unofficial organization point for the gathering. There was a spleef tournament, a building competition, and an obstacle course race. There was also going to be a griefing competition but it was cancelled. There was also a signature wall that 167 people signed, including Notch.
2011[]
MineCon 2011 was held at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 18, coinciding with the official release of the game.
MineCon featured many different events, including the official release of Minecraft, keynote speeches from members of the Minecraft community (including one from Notch), building contests, breakout classes with different Minecraft topics, costume contests, exhibits, meeting worldwide Minecraft personalities and commemorative merchandise.
There were 4,500 attendees at MineCon 2011, coming from 24 nations. Events included the Kickoff party (to which everybody was invited to) and the Into the Nether party with deadmau5 (where only attendees 21 years and older were allowed into).
Tickets went on sale on August 11, with an early-bird price of $99 that ran until September 30. After that, the price became $139.
2012[]
Minecon 2012 was held at Disneyland Paris from November 24–25. This was the first MineCon to be held outside of the United States, and had 4,500 attendees.
On April 9, 2012, Lydia Winters confirmed that MineCon 2012 would occur in Europe. She also stated that details would become clear in the coming weeks. On July 18, she posted on the Mojang blog that in the following week a video would go up saying where MineCon 2012 would be. On August 2, Mojang officially announced through a promotional video on YouTube that MineCon 2012 would be held in Disneyland Paris from November 24–25. On August 23, the official MineCon site was updated to reflect the 2012 convention.
Among the announcements at this convention were details about the then-upcoming 1.5 "Redstone" update, as well as information regarding the game's mod API.
The official Tumblr is located here.
2013[]
Minecon 2013 was held at the Orange County Convention Center in in Orlando, Florida from November 2–3. This convention had an attendance of 7,500. Tickets were put on sale in three batches (July 31, August 2 and August 3), with each batch consisting 2,500 tickets. According to Vu Bui, COO of Mojang AB, the first batch of tickets were sold out in three seconds.
2014[]
No MineCon convention was held in 2014.
2015[]
Minecon 2015 was held in London, at the ExCeL (Exhibition Centre London) from July 4–5. This convention holds a Guinness World Record for being the biggest convention for a Video Game. It had announcements about new features of Minecraft and Minecraft: Story Mode.
2016[]
MineCon 2016 was held in Anaheim, California from September 24–25 at the Anaheim Convention Center. It was announced on March 7.[2]
On April 18, the Minecon website was published, displaying a countdown to when the tickets would go on sale.
On August 12, it was announced that there would be news about the Pocket Edition API at the convention.[3][4]
2017[]
MineCon Earth 2017 took place on November 18, and for the first time, it was in the form of an online live-stream.[5] The event included official community events featuring YouTubers, streamers, tournaments, costume contests, and more.[6]
The MineCon Earth 2017 live-stream can be viewed in its entirety here.
2018[]
MineCon Earth 2018 was an online live-stream which aired from 16:00–17:30 UTC on September 29. It featured Erin Wayne (Aureylian), Martyn Littlewood (InTheLittlewood), Yasmin Ayesha (Yammy), Chad Johnson (OMGchad), and Anthony (BigBStatz) as the co-hosts of the show.
On August 27, ChronicleLive UK published an article[7] detailing an upcoming Newcastle-based "MINECON" event hosted by Nethermined, which Mojang was acknowledging for the first time as an "Official Community Event". During the livestream, viewers could vote for one of three biomes to be updated:
- Taiga - Berries, Campfires, and Foxes were to be added.[8] Taigas ultimately won the biome vote, and its features were subsequently updated in 1.14 - Village and Pillage.
- Savanna - baobabs, termites, and ostriches would be added.[9]
- Desert - palm trees, meerkats, and oases would be added.[10]
The MineCon Earth 2018 live-stream can be viewed in its entirety here.
2019[]
On May 17, 2019, Mojang announced that the MINECON Live livestream for the year would take place on September 28, 2019 at 12pm Eastern US Time (17:00 UTC).[11][12]
The MINECON Live 2019 live-stream can be viewed in its entirety here. During the livestream, viewers could vote for one of three biomes to be updated in the near future:
- Badlands - tumbleweeds, vultures, and a new type of cactus are planned to be added.[13]
- Swamp - treasure boats, frogs, and mangrove trees are planned to be added.[14]
- Mountains – deeper snow, goats, and improved terrain generation are planned to be added.[15] Mountains ultimately won the biome vote and will be updated in a future update.
2020[]
Minecraft Live 2020 was held on October 3, 2020 at 12 pm EST (16:00 UTC). Originally, it was planned that the real-world Minecraft Festival would occur, but that event was pushed back to 2022 due to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.[16][17]
During the livestream, viewers were able to vote for one of three mobs to be added to the game: Moobloom, Iceologer, or Glow Squid.
The Glow Squid won and will be added in the Caves & Cilffs update.
2022[]
Announced on September 28, 2019, the Minecraft Festival is a planned in-person Minecraft convention similar to MINECON. It will be held in Orlando, Florida on an unspecified date in fall 2022. Originally, the festival was set to be held in September 2020,[18] but it was postponed twice due to planning complications resulting from the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak.[19]
References[]
- ↑ Post by Notch (Twitter)
- ↑ MineCon 2016 Announcement (mojang.com)
- ↑ Post by Searge (Twitter)
- ↑ Another post by Searge (Twitter)
- ↑ MineCon Earth Announcement (minecaft.net)
- ↑ Community Events (minecraft.net)
- ↑ Minecraft players in for a treat... (Chronicle Live UK)
- ↑ Biome Chooser - Taiga
- ↑ Biome Chooser - Savanna
- ↑ Biome Chooser - Desert
- ↑ Announcing... MINECON Live (minecraft.net)
- ↑ Which Biome Should We Update Next? (minecraft.net)
- ↑ Biome Vote - Badlands
- ↑ Biome Vote - Swamp
- ↑ Biome Vote - Mountains
- ↑ https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/minecraft-festival-postponed
- ↑ https://minecraft.net/en-us/article/announcing-minecraft-live
- ↑ Minecraft's Tweet about Minecraft Festival
- ↑ https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/minecraft-festival-postponed