Minecraft is a sandbox game developed and published by Mojang Studios. Formally released on 18 November 2011 for personal computers following its initial public alpha release on 17 May 2009, it has been ported to numerous platforms, including mobile devices and various video game consoles.

In Minecraft, players explore a procedurally generated, three-dimensional world with virtually infinite terrain made up of voxels. Players can discover and extract raw materials, craft tools and items, and build structures, earthworks, and machines. Depending on the game mode, players can fight hostile mobs, as well as cooperate with or compete against other players in multiplayer. The game's large community offers a wide variety of user-generated content, such as modifications, servers, player skins, texture packs, and custom maps, which add new game mechanics and possibilities.

Originally created in 2009 by Markus "Notch" Persson using the Java programming language, Jens "Jeb" Bergensten was handed control over the game's continuing development following its full release in 2011. In 2014, Mojang and the Minecraft intellectual property were purchased by Microsoft for US$2.5 billion; Xbox Game Studios hold the publishing rights for the Bedrock Edition, the cross-platform version based on the mobile Pocket Edition which replaced the existing console versions in 2017. Bedrock is updated concurrently with Mojang's original Java Edition, although with numerous, generally small, differences.