Today, Minecraft is one of the most influential and popular online games out there. This has almost always been the case since its initial release.
But with all of the different platforms Minecraft is available on right now, it’s worth diving into the history of when and where this ground-breaking survival crafting game first began.
Initial Minecraft release date
Minecraft first launched for players around the world on May 17, 2009 on PC. At this time, the game from legendary creator Markus “Notch” Persson didn’t even have the familiar name we all know now. Instead, it was known as “Cave Game” during these earlier days. From there, it went through various testing phases for the public in its alpha and later beta states. This is the first official release for the game, though it was essentially in early access.
After that, Minecraft would formally arrive as a “complete” 1.0 experience on November 18, 2011. This is considered the official release for the completed game that set the foundation for the experience players play today on modern systems. It came out of early access, and the game finally started making its way to other platforms beyond just PC.
Right around the same time as the 1.0 release on PC, an early access version of the game was also released on the first set of additional platforms, targeting the mobile audience on Android and iOS. These versions were released on October 7, 2011, and November 17, 2011, respectively. Since then, it has appeared on almost every major gaming console and platform. Most modern versions use Bedrock Edition, which allows for multi-platform cross-play.
All Minecraft releases on other platforms
Here is the full list of the release dates for Minecraft on all platforms, plus its various spin-offs, from its inception all the way through to the current time period:
- Minecraft Early Access (Cave Game): May 17, 2009
- Android (Pocket Edition): October 7, 2011
- iOS (Pocket Edition): November 17, 2011
- Minecraft 1.0 Release on PC (Java Edition): November 18, 2011
- Xbox 360: May 9, 2012
- Raspberry Pi: February 11, 2013
- PS3: December 17, 2013
- Amazon Fire: April 2, 2014
- PS4: September 4, 2014
- Xbox One: September 5, 2014
- PlayStation Vita: October 14, 2014
- Windows Phones: December 10, 2014
- Windows 10 PC: July 29, 2015
- Minecraft Story Mode Season 1: October 13, 2015
- Wii U: December 17, 2015
- Minecraft China: May 20, 2016
- Minecraft Education: November 1, 2016
- Apple TV OS: December 19, 2016
- Android and iOS Bedrock Edition: December 19, 2016
- Nintendo Switch: May 11, 2017
- Minecraft Story Mode Season 2: July 11, 2017
- New Nintendo 3DS: September 13, 2017
- Minecraft Earth: October 17, 2019
- Minecraft Dungeons: May 26, 2020
- Minecraft Legends: April 18, 2023
- ChromeOS: June 8, 2023
