Draft:Cubed!

Cubed! is an unofficial online Minecraft event hosted over a weekend, once a year. The event is hosted to bring the Minecraft Community together and raise money for SpecialEffect & One Tree Planted.

Over the weekend that the event is hosted, players from across the world show up in-game on Cubed!'s Minecraft server, or to watch the Live Streams on Twitch.

In-game Panels are hosted on one of three stages at the event; The Community Stage, The Main Stage, or The Outdoor Stage. Meet and Greets are also held with special guests, and also booths to visit, built by communities and players wanting to show off what they do in the game.

Mini-games are available to play around the in-game venue, And a section dedicated to Cubed!'s Partner Server Hosting Company: StickyPiston, who hosts sub-events within Cubed!.

2012
On September 9, 2012, Cubed! came into existence through a humble forum post on the Minecraft community site, Planet Minecraft. The post extended an invitation to players worldwide to unite for a special weekend.

This inaugural event, initially dubbed "Minecon Server Edition", laid the foundation for much of what Cubed! embodies today. It showcased player-made booths, community-led panels, a diverse array of games, and designated build halls where teams could showcase their creations. A disco even sprung up, offering a space for players to groove to music streamed live.

The event drew in thousands of players during its initial run on November 17th - 18th, 2012, sparking interest for a repeat of the event in the following year.

2013
With interest growing for the event, the year of 2013 initiated the start of a week long celebration instead of the initial weekend only event. This week long event took place on a larger map capable of hosting more player made booths, a build hall, and more explorable space for attendees.

This was the year Cubed! welcomed "Special Guests", notable Minecraft community members such as: DanTDM, JeromeASF, Slamacow, and many more!

2014
2014 Marked the first year of three to use the same map in concession, and noted as the most loved map by attendees, which saw to deploy a more realistic environment. This was styled around a shopping mall with player made booths taking the place of stores across two floors.

This year also marked the start of the initiative to raise money for the UK based charity SpecialEffect.

2015
In 2015, the team behind "Minecon Server Edition" decided the event had to become independant from the Minecon brand, and moved to the now recognisable name Cubed!. "The new brand focused on a variety of different color blocks, each representing the different players and communities coming together."

Cubed! 2015 would seek to prove that it was still the same convention and used an updated version of the previous year's map that reflected the new branding while retaining the history.

£800 was raised in 2015 for SpecialEffect.

2016
'''Cubed! 2016''' took place over the winter season, with the 2015 venue covered in snow. The servers were powered by MCProHosting and had minigames supplied by MythicalMC

£1,000 was raised in 2016 for SpecialEffect.

2017
'''Cubed! 2017''' moved away from the 2014 venue, opting for a halloween themed haunted house for their venue during the event in October.

This would also be the first year that the creatives at Cubed! introduced an interactive Minecart Ride, paying homage to many theme-park servers that were rising in popularity at the time.

£600 was raised in 2017 for SpecialEffect.

2018
'''Cubed! 2018''' returned in the summer, to which the event was hosted at the sea front. The only time the event will have been a fully outdoor explorable event.

2018 was the year that the now recognisable logo came into use, with the a new refreshed design, to which has shaped the event's branding throughout the future years.

$1,200 was raised in 2018 for SpecialEffect.

2019
'''Cubed! 2019''' was hosted on a giant space station among the stars, built by the Scottish Minecraft player DaloriaMC. Booths lined the outer ring of the space station, whilst other events were held in the center of the station.

$1,650 was raised in 2019 for SpecialEffect.

2020
'''Cubed! 2020''' due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, with most of the world not able to attend in-person conventions, Cubed! 2020 brought the outside world inside with the event hosted in a recreation of the ExCeL London convention space.

2020 also saw the introduction of the Cubed! Event Pass, which was a way to unlock cosmetic awards for participating and attending the event.

This was also the year Cubed! partnered with RASA Studios' Noxsquad Gameshow, to stream a LIVE variety gameshow on the Sunday of the event.

$2,060 was raised in 2020 for SpecialEffect.

2021
'''Cubed! 2021''' saw the introduction of a new permanent home for the event, a custom convention centre in a city. Built by the Minecraft build team: Mithrintia. It has an arrival subway station for attendees, skyscrapers, and the convention centre. Inside the new convention centre, it hosted a Meet and Greet area for the Special Guests, the StickyPiston Arcade, which hosted a variety of player made Minecraft Mini-game maps, and Minigame Mash, an evening of Mini-games on the event's livestream.

The new location also hosted a Booth Hall, a Main Stage, a Community Stage, an Outdoor Stage, and various explorable areas.

$4,503 was raised in 2021 for SpecialEffect.

2022
'''Cubed! 2022''' welcome'd a collectables hunt. Where around the convention centre you could find gift boxes, and collect the location's card on the Cubed! website.

2022 also introduced a tree garden, representing every tree planted with $1 from every purchase going to One Tree Planted.

$7,104 was raised in 2022 for SpecialEffect, and $112 was raised in 2022 for One Tree Planted.

2023
'''Cubed! 2023''' was the first year, the event ran a live pre-show in a studio, and hosted live talks and intermission chats with the Cubed! team.

This was the first year Cubed! introduced a custom retextured User interface for the event, also opened up a new feature for attendees to purchase a hotel room for the weekend event, to which they can build and redecorate in, making their own personalised space to stay when not at the event.

From a technical side, this was the first year that the convention centre's areas were split between servers to handle the influx of players to reduce load on one server. It saw players able to seemlessly transport between servers when crossing into various locations, such as the Booth Hall, or the Main Stage, and even the outside or inside of the entrance to the centre.

$12,023 was raised in 2023 for SpecialEffect, and $138 was raised in 2023 for One Tree Planted. An all time record for the event, surpassing the expected amount. Setting a new bar for future events.