is a sandbox construction game created by Mojang AB founder Markus "Notch" Persson, inspired

by Infiniminer, Dwarf Fortress, Dungeon Keeper, and Notch's past games Legend of the

Chambered and RubyDung. Gameplay involves players interacting with the game world by
placing and breaking various types of blocks in a three-dimensional environment. In this
environment, players can build creative structures, creations, and artwork on multiplayer servers
and singleplayer worlds across multiple game modes.
Minecraft: Java Edition is available for €23.95 (US$26.95, £17.95). When purchased, singleplayer
and multiplayer game modes can be played using the downloadable stand-alone launcher. The
official demo is free, but has a time limit. Minecraft development started around May 10, 2009,
and pre-orders for the full game were accepted starting from June 13, 2009. Minecraft's official
release date was November 18, 2011. As of July 4, 2018, Java Edition is the second best-selling
PC game of all time and has reached 33 million sales as of November 7, 2019.
On August 16, 2011, Minecraft: Pocket Edition, the first edition to use the Bedrock
Edition codebase, was released for the Sony Xperia Play gaming smartphone. After its exclusivity
with Sony expired, it was released for Android devices on October 7, 2011, iOS devices on
November 17, 2011, Fire OS devices on September 13, 2012, and Windows Phone 8.1 on
December 10, 2014 for US$6.99. Bedrock Edition was then ported to non-mobile platforms for the
first time, starting with Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition on July 29, 2015, and followed
by Minecraft: Gear VR Edition on April 27, 2016, and Minecraft: Apple TV Edition and Minecraft:
Fire TV Edition on December 19, 2016. On December 1, 2016, Pocket Edition reached 40 million
sales. On December 19, 2016, Pocket Edition for Windows Phone 8.1 was officially discontinued.
It was replaced by Pocket Edition for Windows 10 Mobile on February 22, 2017. On September
24, 2018, Apple TV Edition was officially discontinued.
On May 9, 2012, Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition was released for the Xbox 360 on Xbox Live Arcade
for US$19.99, where it subsequently broke every previous sales record. Xbox 360 Edition was
the first version to use the codebase known as Legacy Console Edition. It was followed
by Minecraft: PlayStation 3 Edition on December 17, 2013, Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition on
September 4, 2014, Minecraft: Xbox One Edition on September 5, 2014, Minecraft: PlayStation
Vita Edition on October 14, 2014, Minecraft: Wii U Edition on December 17, 2015, and Minecraft:
Nintendo Switch Edition on May 11, 2017. All editions under this codebase have since been
discontinued.
On February 11, 2013, Minecraft: Pi Edition was released for the Raspberry Pi. Pi Edition was
intended as an educational tool for novice programmers and users were encouraged to open and
change the game's code using its API. There were never any subsequent updates and the edition
is now officially discontinued.
On September 15, 2014, Mojang AB and all of its assets (including Minecraft) were purchased
by Microsoft for US$2.5 billion.
Minecraft China was released on September 5, 2017, for iOS; August 8, 2017, for PC; and
October 12, 2017, for Android. The gameplay is similar to Java and Bedrock editions but is free to
play.
After a beta testing period, Minecraft: Education Edition was released on November 1, 2016, for
US$5 per user per year. Education Edition contains features that make Minecraft more accessible
and effective in a classroom setting.
On September 13, 2017, Minecraft: New Nintendo 3DS Edition was released for the New
Nintendo 3DS, New Nintendo 3DS XL, and New Nintendo 2DS XL. This edition was officially
discontinued on January 15, 2019.
On September 18, 2017, the original version of Minecraft was renamed to Minecraft: Java Edition.
Shortly thereafter, on September 20, 2017, the Better Together Update for Bedrock Edition was
released on Android, iOS, Fire OS, Windows 10, Samsung Gear VR, and Fire TV, and the
editions Pocket Edition, Windows 10 Edition, Gear VR Edition, and Fire TV Edition were then
renamed to have the single title Minecraft with no edition name. A port of Bedrock Edition to the
Xbox One platform was released that day, discontinuing and replacing the original Xbox One
Edition, and a port of Bedrock Edition to the Nintendo Switch platform was released on June 21,
2018, discontinuing and replacing the original Nintendo Switch Edition. The final platform to
receive Bedrock Edition was the PlayStation 4 on December 10, 2019, replacing PlayStation 4
Edition.
On May 17, 2019, a spin-off mobile game, Minecraft Earth, was officially announced, and entered
closed beta on July 16, 2019. Earth is an augmented-reality game where players can build
structures and collect materials by traveling to real-life locations.
Minecraft has sold 180 million copies across all platforms as of November 2019, making it both
the best-selling video game of all time and the ninth-best-selling video game franchise of all time,
and has 112 million active monthly players as of September 2019. In total, the game has over
480 million players, with 300 million registered users playing on Minecraft China.