Minecraft is coming to Chromebooks, but it’s tricky to know if yours will work

Microsoft and Mojang are bringing Minecraft to Chromebooks, particularly the Bedrock Edition. Unfortunately, you’ll want a somewhat trendy Chromebook to play it, and what that means is going to baffle a lot of annoyed mother and father.

In a weblog publish, Mojang stated that it doesn’t have a launch date for the complete model of the Minecraft Bedrock Edition on ChromeOS, although the corporate plans to launch updates as shut to the timing of different platforms as doable. That signifies that the model for Chromebooks will embody the Trails and Tails replace, with its potential to journey camels and different options. Technically, what’s being launched is an “Early Access” version.

“Early Access,” although, means bugs. Mojang isn’t promising that the model of the sport launched for Chromebooks received’t have its personal distinctive glitches, although it’s making an attempt to work with early adopters to nail them down earlier than the sport’s precise launch.

Like Skyrim, Minecraft has lengthy been a staple on varied gaming platforms, together with PCs, consoles and even a model for cell units. However, the sport’s absence on Chromebooks was a notable hole in its availability. Users are already on in a position to merely go to the Google Play Store and seek for the sport on Android, the place they’ll have the opportunity to discover the brand new model, too. (The Chrome OS model will be offered individually, Mojang says.)

Once downloaded, gamers can register with their Microsoft account or create a brand new one. Since this is the Bedrock Edition, you’ll have the opportunity to cross-play throughout a number of platforms.

The catch, if there is one, is that you just’ll want a reasonably trendy Chromebook. Today, “modern” means something from an Intel Celeron 4500 on up, as outlined by Mojang. That’s unlucky, on condition that final yr’s Black Friday Chromebook offers lined Celeron N4020 and N4120 Chromebooks on the low finish — about $150 or so. Midrange Chromebooks included Pentium Silver N6000s and even Core i3s.

The minimal specs to play Minecraft on a Chromebook

• Operating System: ChromeOS 111
• System Architecture: 64-bit (x86_64, arm64-v8a)
• Processor: Intel Celeron N4500, Intel i3-7130U, Mediatek MT8183, Qualcomm SC7180 or higher
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Storage: Minimum of 1 GB recreation set up, maps, and different information

One massive downside? It’s not likely apparent what’s “better” than the Celeron N4500 that matches the minimal specification. Intel notes that the N4500 was launched in early 2021, so likelihood is that if you could have a Chromebook purchased inside the final yr or so your Minecraft recreation is lined. But Intel’s resolution to drop the Intel Celeron title in 2022, and substitute it with only a generic “Intel Processor” model, could lead on to confusion.

In truth, Intel’s scattershot strategy to Chromebook naming scheme is going to be thrust right into a somewhat harsh highlight. Today, Chromebooks are constructed across the Celeron model (N3000, N4000, and so forth), the Celeron 6000 model, Pentium Silver model, the Intel Processor model, in addition to the Core m3 and Core i3 processors. What’s higher? What qualifies as a Minecraft-capable processor? Why aren’t AMD A-series processors included?

For that matter, mother and father might have to work out if their MediaTek or Qualcomm processor qualifies, too — or, if it doesn’t, what Chromebook they want to purchase as a substitute. Add to this Mojang’s qualification that the sport’s necessities might change over time, and each children and their mother and father could also be annoyed by how this all performs out throughout these early days for Minecraft on Chromebooks.

This story was up to date at 2:51 PM with extra particulars.