Minecraft fans with Chromebooks, it’s time to rejoice! Playing your favorite game on ChromeOS is soon to be a lot easier. Developer Mojang has announced that it is bringing the Bedrock version of Minecraft to Chromebooks, but only in early access with no confirmed release date for the full version just yet.
Exciting as it sounds, this early access isn’t open for all Minecraft players with Chromebooks, as things are limited to select Chromebooks that meet the minimum requirements. If you’re wondering, those requirements aren’t pretty strict, and you’ll know if your device qualifies if you see the option to buy Minecraft in the Google Play Store.
The TL;DR to playing is this. You’ll have to be running ChromeOS 111 or higher, and have either an Intel Celeron N4500, Intel i3-7130U, MediaTek MT8183, Qualcomm SC7180 or better processor, 4GB RAM, and 1GB of free space on your Chromebook. You’ll also need to have access to using Android apps on your Chromebook, and some extra money in your pocket. There’s a Chromebook and Android bundle of Minecraft that’ll cost $20, an Android version for $7, or a Chromebook Upgrade version that sells for $13. Previous purchases of Minecraft will not transfer over to a Chromebook.
As you’d expect, since this is early access, there will be a few bugs that you might come access. Mojang wants feedback before rolling this experience out to everyone. This means that you’ll have to create a new world when playing Minecraft for Chromebook (old ones won’t transfer), and you’ll also need a Microsoft Account to play.
And speaking of everyone — this Bedrock version of Minecraft will support cross-play from Chromebooks with friends on other devices, allowing for the full experience. Previously, the only way to play Minecraft on Chromebooks locally was to either use Minecraft: Education Edition or play the Java version of the game through Linux apps.
Considering that Google is now pushing Chromebooks as great for gaming with support for Steam and cloud gaming services, this is yet another huge moment for ChromeOS as a platform.
Source: Minecraft.net