Minecraft was released in 2009 in May as a free demo version, the following year in December 2010 the beta version was released and on November 2011 the full version of the game was released. 

the sandbox game was initially created by Markus Persson, better known as 'Notch'. Despite now it being one of the best selling games (conflict against Tetris) the game initially hit mixed responses from critics. They were impressed from the games controls, yet were disappointed by the lack of content that it had to offer. This is now not an issue with the varied gameplay (minigames, servers, mods, survival, story mode, and the original gameplay). 

Minecraft is a popular game due to the creative freedom provided in the game's sandbox engine and gameplay loop. It allows for infinitely generated worlds that can be explored and pursued to the limits of the player's imagination. Pair this with the goals and interesting events the player can encounter in the game (multiple 'worlds', a final boss, NPC locations) as well as the prospect of multiplayer and modded content, the game becomes worthy of an immense amount of diverse content with a lengthy playtime and genre appeal.

As on May 2019, gamesindustry.biz has reported that Microsoft has confirmed a total 176 million sales of the game across all platforms, as well as having over 200 million registered users globally. It has had an average player-base of 100 Million players a month which has only been rising ever since.

Microsoft Studios is a division of Microsoft based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000 for the development and publishing of video games for Microsoft Windows. It has since expanded to include games and other interactive entertainment for the namesake Xbox platforms, Windows Mobile and other mobile platforms, and web-based portals.

Microsoft distribute their retail packaged products primarily through independent non-exclusive distributors, authorized replicators, resellers and retail outlets. Individual consumers obtain these products primarily through retail outlets, such as Wal-Mart, Dixons and Microsoft stores.
To increase their audience, Microsoft teamed up with Nintendo in June 2018 to promote the cross-play of Minecraft on the Nintendo Switch. The use of creating products in relation to Minecraft, e.g. Lego sets, figurines and mystery packs also helped them extend their audience as they're targeting a new age range for the game.

Microsoft has taken over the Swedish company, Mojang for £1.5 billion ($2.5bn) which was announced in September 2014. 
Despite the game being taken over, it was allowed that all workers for Mojang could continue their work, but for Microsoft.

it is said that 'Notch' sold Minecraft as he no longer wanted the spotlight anymore. He wanted to work on what he wanted and when he wanted too but didn't want the pressure that came with being the owner of such a successful game. 

When Minecraft was bought back in 2014 by Microsoft, the press coverage was incredibly vast. This is due to the high amount of money Microsoft payed to buy out the game's initially indie development studio Mojang. This deal was so heavily discussed due to it being one of the most financially significant (at least in the public's view of the industry) events people had seen in a long time.

Fans of the game had mixed reactions, but mostly positive. In 2014, Mojang developers made posts on the Minecraft sub reddit announcing  they were being bought out by Microsoft. Fans welcomed the companies backing as it meant more funding, relevancy and updates for the game. However, Microsoft has a lot more profit based intentions than as mall indie development studio, meaning the game had the potentiality to be corrupted.