MCPVP

The Rise and Fall of an Empire

June 2011 — May 2015

$5.9M
Revenue
5.0M
Players
36.6M
Hours Played
47
Months

The Timeline

47 months of triumph and tragedy

From a small Minecraft server in June 2011 to a $5.9 million business at its peak, MCPVP rode the Hunger Games cultural phenomenon to unprecedented heights—only to face a 96% revenue collapse when Mojang's monetization rules changed everything.

Revenue & Active Players Over Time

Revenue
Active Players
March 2012
Hunger Games Movie

The first Hunger Games movie release drives +103% growth in new accounts.

April 2013
Peak Revenue

All-time high of $321,560 monthly revenue with 650K active players.

August 2014
The Cliff

Mojang EULA enforcement causes -75.6% single-month revenue drop.

Month Revenue MoM % Active Players New Accounts Payments Bans

The Game Modes

Where legends were made

Concentration Risk

51% of all play time was in Hunger Games alone. When the Hunger Games cultural moment faded, so did MCPVP's relevance.

Hunger Games

Hunger Games

The flagship battle royale that defined MCPVP

51.1% of play time
18.7M hours
2.4M players
Capture the Flag

Capture the Flag

19.0% 6.9M hours
Sabotage

Sabotage

6.0% 2.2M hours
Smash

Smash

2.8% 1.0M hours
Maze Runner

Maze Runner

3.4% 1.2M hours
Headshot

Headshot

1.1% 393K hours
Build

Build

1.0% 375K hours

Play Time Distribution

Game Mode Unique Players Total Hours Hrs/Player % of Total

Game Popularity Over Time

The Revenue Story

Where the $5.9 million came from

The Whale Economy

A small group of dedicated spenders drove nearly half of all revenue.

8% of payers = 46% of revenue

Freemium Model

Only a small fraction converted to paying customers, but those who did spent well.

3.6%
ever purchased
$33.18
avg lifetime value

Revenue by Category

Top Products

Spending Distribution

Product Purchases Revenue Avg Price

The Kit Economy

207 kits • 1M+ purchases • ~$4.8M in credits

1.04M
Kit Sales
248,644
Unique Buyers
239M
Credits Spent
4.2
Avg Kits/Player

Most Popular Kits

All Kits by Ownership

Kit Owners Credits Spent Avg Price

Sales by Game Mode

Server Kits Sold Unique Buyers Total Credits

Kit Gallery

The Players

The legends who defined MCPVP

5.0M
Total Accounts
1.26%
Premium Rate
12.6
Avg Hours/Player
24,503
Clans Created

Top Players by Play Time

Rank Player Total Hours Days Played First Seen Last Seen

The Cheating Epidemic

168,608 permanent bans • 90% for hacking

168,608
Permanent Bans
2.4M
Temp Bans
3.4%
Ban Rate
$34K
Unban Revenue

Permanent Ban Reasons

Anti-Cheat Detections

Bans Over Time

Top Banning Staff

Rank Admin Bans Issued

THE CLIFF

August 2014

On June 12, 2014, Mojang published their server monetization guidelines. Servers could no longer sell gameplay-affecting items, kits, or advantages.

For MCPVP—built entirely on premium kits and gameplay-affecting purchases—this meant dismantling the core business model.

Servers had until August 1st, 2014 to comply. The result was catastrophic.

July 2014
$215,976
August 2014
$52,605
Revenue Decline -75.6%
$0 $215,976

The business never recovered.

The Staff

The team that built and ran MCPVP

Owners

Administrators

Moderators

MCPVP

THE END

May 21, 2015

"The servers went dark, but the memories remain."

Final Month
74,238
Players
91,442
Hours
$11,634
Revenue

Still playing. Still loyal. To the very end.

Thank you to everyone who was part of MCPVP.