"Minecraft" recently surpassed a milestone that can be quite hard to comprehend: 1 TRILLION views on YouTube, as per The Verge. It is also likely the only single topic to do so on the popular streaming platform.

As a way of giving tribute to content creators and viewers who made this milestone possible, YouTube had this to say (via NME):

"The story of 'Minecraft' on YouTube is one of endless creativity fueled by changes to the game, changes to YouTube, and the ever-evolving interests of both creators and their viewers. Believe it or not, all that energy and output seems to be gaining momentum. As our data shows, it took around eight years for this community to generate 500 billion views, but only another two or so to double that and hit one trillion. What future heights they hit we can only guess at, but as with this milestone, it will be fun to watch it happen."

And apparently, some of the most popular content creators in the "Minecraft" community haven't even played the game at all.

According to YouTube Culture and Trends Insights lead Earnest Pettie, one particular creator named Jake Fellman is a perfect example. Fellman creates animated shorts set within the game, even if he himself hasn't actually played it.

Nevertheless, Fellman is one of the most well-known figures in the community, which illustrates just how much the simple-looking, blocky game has infiltrated the modern psyche.

But why is it really this popular? There are so many reasons, but we will try to boil it down to the few most important ones.

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Easily Accessible, Endless, Free-For-All Fun Backed By Influencer Impact

To say that "Minecraft" offers players an almost unparalleled level of freedom and gameplay possibilities is a massive understatement. Furthermore, it has huge backing from some of the world's biggest internet stars, which just fuels its popularity way more, according to FictionHorizon.

Within the game, players can literally do anything. Whatever you imagine, you can achieve it there. People have created incredible works of art, recreations of real-world cities, and even actual working computer parts: like this one from YouTuber sammyuri:

The CPU is actually capable of running its own programs, too.

Furthermore, the content creator support is just absolutely nuts. Some of the biggest YouTubers out there amass views for their "Minecraft" videos on the regular. According to Forbes, the game alone was responsible for 201 billion views just last year.

All of this lies with the effectiveness of influencer marketing as a whole. As per Hubspot, people will more often trust word-of-mouth marketing and social proof. If people see somebody with a lot of followers liking the game (in this case, it's clearly "Minecraft"), then they will more likely engage in it themselves and try it out.

How 'Minecraft' Videos Have Changed Over The Years

YouTube's analysis of the milestone reveals some interesting points in the 11-year history of the game on their platform.

The game's earliest years (early 2010s) were considered by YouTube as its creative golden age. Content creators basically did whatever they wanted during this period and got popular for it.

The biggest view-getters were parodies, multiplayer role-playing, and even recreations of popular movie franchises. An example of the latter is IHasCupquake's recreation of "The Hunger Games," which a lot of people feel might be the inspiration for today's battle royale game fad-and other popular games like "Fortnite" and "PUBG."

By the time the late 2010s and early 2020s arrived, the likes of speedruns and episodic storytelling dominated the airwaves.

These changes are another proof of what makes "Minecraft" so popular: not only does it allow for player freedom as no other game has, but it also evolves overtime to keep up with trends. The game's extremely malleable and versatile gameplay is what kept it alive all these years-and perhaps for several years more down the line.

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Written by RJ Pierce