Minecraft’s brand levels up ahead of movie launch
As Minecraft took its game to the big screen in the form of A Minecraft Movie, Ad Awareness and engagement surged across US audiences. Using YouGov BrandIndex data, we tracked shifts in Ad Awareness, WOM Exposure, and Index scores from October 2024 through the April 2025 theatrical release of the film. The data reveals a brand in strong health, with momentum building steadily before the film and holding well after.
Ad Awareness climbs as Minecraft movie campaign ramps up
In the run-up to the movie’s release, Minecraft’s Ad Awareness saw a clear rise—particularly after the February 28 trailer drop. Among gamers, scores grew from 9.8% at the end of February to 15.8% by April 14.
Parents of kids under 18 showed the strongest response, jumping from 14.0% to 19.4% over the same period. The general US public followed suit, with awareness nearly doubling from 7.6% to 15.6%. The sharpest growth came in April, indicating the film’s promotional campaign successfully cut through to a wide audience just in time for launch.
Word of Mouth Exposure peaks in mid-March
Conversation around Minecraft remained consistent throughout late 2024 and early 2025 but began building serious momentum in March, especially among gamers. Within this group, WOM Exposure peaked at 19.6% by mid-month—up from 12.7% just after the trailer release.
Parents again led the pack, maintaining scores over 21% for most of March and hitting 23.0% by the end of the month. General adult chatter also picked up, rising from 9.8% to 11.5%. While buzz dipped slightly post-release, levels stayed above their early-year baseline, showing lasting engagement.
Consideration peaks as Current Customer edges up
Consumer Consideration for Minecraft climbed steadily in the months ahead of the movie's debut, with interest peaking in mid-March, just after the launch of the final trailer. Among gamers, scores dropped to 16.5% in January before rising sharply to a campaign high of 25.6% on April 3. Parents showed a similar trajectory, reaching their own peak of 26.1% in mid-March. General US adults registered more modest increases, growing from around 12.5% in February to just above 14% in early April.
That mid-March peak aligned with a surge in word-of-mouth and advertising visibility, suggesting that Minecraft was not only being talked about—it was actively being considered. Although Consideration dipped slightly after the movie's release, it remained well above early-year levels, indicating sustained brand interest beyond launch week. The decline may reflect a temporary spike in interest, with some audiences trying the game briefly in response to the trailer and broader buzz surrounding the film.
Our data also shows that Current Customer levels edged upward during this period, particularly in March. Among parents, the metric peaked at 19.9%, up from a February low of 9.1%. For gamers, the score climbed from 9.6% in late February to a high of 15.1% on March 12, suggesting that some of the increased attention translated into actual gameplay.
Methodology: Ad Awareness is a YouGov BrandIndex metric that tracks the percentage of consumers who recall seeing an advertisement for a brand in the past two weeks. The data shown represents daily interviews with US adults (average sample size of 1559), including subsets of gamers (average sample size of 411) and parents of children under 18 (average sample size of 300). All figures are based on a 4-week moving average. Data is weighted by age, gender, region, and other demographics to be representative of the US population.