Minecraft is officially coming to Chromebook devices! Wait, is this new? Was it not already available on ChromeOS? A small number of people will jump up and down, full of glee at news of this kind, but my initial response wasn't "oh wow" because it was some shocking reveal. I did go "oh wow," but because I thought it was always available on Chromebooks.
That might just have to do with how much misplaced faith I have in the platform, but considering Minecraft is playable on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, Google Play, the App Store and PC, I would've expected it'd be on anything and everything at this point. I mean, come on, if a phone can play Minecraft, how has it taken this long for Chromebook to do the same?
How to get Minecraft on Chromebook
According to a recent blog post, an early-access version of Minecraft: Bedrock Edition is now available via the Google Play Store. What does "early access" mean in this case?
Well, Minecraft is only available to select devices that meet the following minimum requirements:
- ChromeOS 111
- 64-bit system architecture
- Intel Celeron N4500 or Intel i3-7130U or Mediatek MT8183 or Qualcomm SC7180 or a better processor
- 4GB of RAM
- 1GB of free storage space
Of course, this is only temporary. The Minecraft blog post said that it's not singling gamers out. Instead, it is simply testing the game's performance before making it more widely available to players.
Want to see if your Chromebook is selected for early access? Check this Google Play Store link to see if it's available for you.
Minecraft coming to ChromeOS is actually a big deal
Snarkiness aside, Minecraft is one of the most groundbreaking games of all time, and it being available on ChromeOS is huge. This means that more people can experience a phenomenal game without spending a fortune on hardware, although keep in mind that this will not run on every Chromebook out there.
As mentioned, this version of Minecraft is also still in the early access and testing stages for compatibility with ChromeOS, so don't expect a completely faultless experience just yet. You will also have to purchase the game even though it is in early access, with the Android version at $6.99. To upgrade to the Chromebook version, you'll need to spend an additional $13.00. Alternatively, a bundle combining both versions is available for $19.99.
Minecraft: Bedrock Edition is the version coming to ChromeOS, which is unsurprising, as a majority of Chromebooks would likely explode if they tried to run the Java version. However, this also means that you won't get access to custom user content and the slew of mods that make Minecraft so special to begin with, but at the very least, you can enjoy the vanilla content.
