In which year was Minecraft officially released?

Minecraft was officially released in 2011, when version 1.0 launched during MineCon in Las Vegas on November 18.

The game’s earlier history is why this question sometimes causes confusion. Markus “Notch” Persson first made Minecraft publicly available in 2009, beginning with an early version that was later called Classic. The game then passed through development stages including Alpha and Beta, with players buying and testing it before the finished release.

The 2011 launch marked the completion of Minecraft’s original development cycle. Minecraft 1.0, also known as the full release, added major elements such as The End and the Ender Dragon, giving the game a more defined conclusion while preserving its open-ended sandbox style.

A common mix-up is answering 2009 because that was the year Minecraft first became playable by the public. Another nearby milestone is 2014, when Microsoft announced its acquisition of Mojang. For the wording “officially released,” however, 2011 is the canonical quiz answer.