It’s safe to say that Minecraft has grown since it was first released to the public in 2009. Once upon a time, it was a slimmed-down and remarkably basic game, but today, it’s the most popular game in history, and on average, 22 million copies are shipped every year. But, there’s one all-important question people are asking, even this far after the game’s release. Is Minecraft free, and if it is, how can you download it?
Is There A Free Version of Minecraft?
Minecraft started out as a block-breaking game with very few features – it didn’t even have mobs or any elements of survival when it was first released to the general public. However, more than a decade has passed since Minecraft dropped, and today, there’s an entire ecosystem out there, and back in 2014, Microsoft acquired Mojang, Minecraft’s developer, for an eye-watering sum of $2.5 billion.
It’s a fair statement to say that every gamer on Earth has played Minecraft in some way, shape, or form, as it exists on everything – Switch, mobile devices, PC, Xbox, and PlayStation… It’s everywhere.
But is Minecraft free? Now, there’s a question.
Can You Download Minecraft For Free?
Unfortunately, for those looking to download Minecraft for free, we can confirm that such a version doesn’t exist. There are ways that you can play Minecraft for free, but there are plenty of catches to these methods. For instance, there’s an ‘educational version’ of Minecraft that’s technically free for a certain amount of users, but it’s a version that’s designed to quite literally teach things to children.
If you want to play Minecraft for free, you can go onto a PC or a laptop and open Minecraft Classic, a browser-based rendition of the original 2009 game, with a few tweaks. It’s a seriously basic offering, featuring no mods, only 32 block types, and absolutely no other base elements other than breaking and building blocks, but it technically is free Minecraft, so that answers the question, right?
Of course, those that also subscribe to Xbox Game Pass or PC Game Pass have access to Minecraft through their subscription. It isn’t technically free, but it’s offered at no extra cost to subscribers, and it’s one of the easiest ways to get hold of your copy of Minecraft.
And finally, there’s an option to download a free trial of Minecraft, depending on which platform you’re playing.
That’s the truth of it if you’ve found yourself wondering, ‘Is Minecraft free?’ Neither the base game, Minecraft Legends, Minecraft Dungeons, nor Minecraft Story Mode are free. They likely never will be!
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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