Minecraft accolades. Social media, parodies, adaptations, merchandise, and the MineCon convention played large roles in popularizing the game. It has also been used in educational environments ("Minecraft Education Edition"), especially in the realm of computing systems, as virtual computers and hardware devices have been built in it. By late 2018, over 154 million copies had been sold across all platforms, making it the second best-selling video game of all time, behind "Tetris". In September 2014, Microsoft announced a deal to buy Mojang and the "Minecraft" intellectual property for , with the acquisition completed two months later. Spin-off games, such as "",
Minecraft was released on 1 November 2016. "Minecraft" has already been used in classrooms around the world to teach subjects ranging from core STEM topics to arts and poetry. "Minecraft: Education Edition" is designed specifically for classroom use. The Education Edition gives teachers the tools they need to use "Minecraft" on an everyday basis. There are few differences between regular "Minecraft" and the "Education Edition". The main concept is the same – the game is an open sandbox world. The students' characters in "Education Edition" are able to retain characteristics. Students are be able to download the game at home, without