Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition

Microsoft’s Xbox Live Director of Programming Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb posted his regular activity roundup for the Xbox 360’s online network, and the Minecraft mania flows strong on the lists.

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition nabbed the top position for bestsellers as well as sliding in behind long-standing champions Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Call of Duty: Black Ops for unique-user counts. Other titans felt the squeeze: Battlefield 3, Halo: Reach, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Gears of War 3 trailed by significant margins.

Here’s the punchline: All of this happened in Minecraft’s first week of release.

Creativity spawns popularity, or so the legions of Minecraft’s stalwart community believes. Originally released for the PC on November 18, 2011, the open-world tinkering title arms players with pick, axe, sword, and other tools while throwing open the floodgates of crowdsourced content, resulting in masterful works such as a recreated Westeros from Game of Thrones and Portal’s test chambers.

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition launched on May 9, promptly fashioned a golden sword, and smashed digital-sales records on its first day in the wilds. Its 1,600 Microsoft Points ($20) cost, unusually large for an XBLA title, and its lack of a modding infrastructure didn’t prevent the acclaim rolling in.

Check out Major Nelson’s activity lists below. If you’re playing Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition, what have you created so far? Let us know in the comments!

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on unique users)

  1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
  2. Call of Duty: Black Ops
  3. Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition
  4. FIFA 12
  5. Battlefield 3
  6. Halo: Reach
  7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
  8. NBA 2K12
  9. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
  10. Gears of War 3
  11. Grand Theft Auto IV
  12. Trials Evolution
  13. Forza Motorsport 4
  14. Mass Effect 3
  15. NHL 12
  16. Madden NFL 12
  17. Halo 3
  18. Red Dead Redemption
  19. Saints Row: The Third
  20. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased)

  1. Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition
  2. Trials Evolution
  3. The Walking Dead
  4. Fable Heroes
  5. Fez
  6. Pinball FX2
  7. Awesomenauts
  8. I Am Alive
  9. Castle Crashers
  10. Family Game Night
  11. Fruit Ninja Kinect
  12. Bloodforge
  13. Toy Soldiers: Cold War
  14. Gotham City Impostors
  15. Toy Soldiers
  16. Trials HD
  17. Dungeon Defenders
  18. Full House Poker
  19. Peggle
  20. Magic: The Gathering — Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012

Top Indie Games (Full Versions purchased)

  1. CastleMiner Z
  2. CastleMiner
  3. Total Miner: Forge
  4. The $1 Zombie Game
  5. FortressCraft: Chapter 1
  6. The Impossible Game
  7. Avatar Paintball
  8. Avatar Deathmatch
  9. Fortress Wars
  10. FLIRT
  11. End of Days: Infected vs. Mercs
  12. Avatar Legends
  13. Flight Adventure 2
  14. Toy Stunt Bike 2
  15. Solar 2
  16. Firing Range 2
  17. Miner4Ever
  18. Avatar Air Wars
  19. Don’t Die Dateless, Dummy!
  20. Attack of the Zombie Horde

Games for Windows Top Live Titles (based on unique users)

  1. Grand Theft Auto IV
  2. Age of Empires Online
  3. Batman: Arkham City
  4. Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition
  5. Microsoft Flight
  6. Batman: Arkham Asylum
  7. DiRT 3
  8. Gotham City Impostors
  9. F1 2011
  10. Resident Evil 5
  11. Fallout 3
  12. Street Fighter X Tekken
  13. Toy Soldiers
  14. Fable III
  15. BioShock 2
  16. Colin McRae: Dirt 2
  17. Bulletstorm
  18. F1 2010
  19. Street Fighter IV
  20. Section 8: Prejudice