Minecraft: Java Edition has been in constant development from May 10, 2009. What is now known as Pre-classic refers to the early unreleased versions of Minecraft during the week from May 10 to May 16, 2009. The next phase, what was later called Classic, lasted from May 17 to November 10, 2009. Indev, short for "in development", lasted from December 23, 2009, to February 23, 2010. Infdev, short for "infinite development", lasted from February 27 to June 30, 2010. Alpha lasted from June 30 to December 3, 2010, and Beta lasted from December 20, 2010, all the way through to November 11, 2011. The official release of Minecraft (Java Edition) came on November 18, 2011, at MINECON 2011, and further updates have been released ever since, the most recent being 1.20.2.
Release
The release stage of Minecraft (Java Edition)'s development started on November 18, 2011, and has continued until the present day. At this point of development, the game was considered "complete", having both an "ending" and being ready for ratings and reviews. The game's price also increased from what it was in Beta, but users who previously bought the game were not charged extra.
1.14
1.13
1.12
1.11
1.10
1.9
1.8
Update
|
Version
|
Release date
|
Bountiful Update
|
1.8.9 |
December 9, 2015
|
1.8.8 |
July 28, 2015
|
1.8.7 |
June 5, 2015
|
1.8.6 |
May 25, 2015
|
1.8.5 |
May 22, 2015
|
1.8.4 |
April 17, 2015
|
1.8.3 |
February 20, 2015
|
1.8.2 |
February 19, 2015
|
1.8.1 |
November 24, 2014
|
1.8 |
September 2, 2014
|
1.7
1.6
1.5
1.4
1.3
Version
|
Release date
|
1.3.2 |
August 16, 2012
|
1.3.1 |
August 1, 2012
|
1.2
1.1
Version
|
Release date
|
1.1 |
January 12, 2012
|
1.0
Version
|
Release date
|
1.0.1 (Server only) |
November 24, 2011
|
1.0.0 |
November 18, 2011
|
Beta
The Beta development phase started on December 20, 2010 and ended on November 18, 2011. The main goals of this development stage were a larger focus on polishing gameplay, additional content, and stability.[1] The game's price also increased from what it was in Alpha, but users who previously bought the game were not charged extra.
Beta 1.8
Beta 1.7
Beta 1.6
Beta 1.5
Beta 1.4
Beta 1.3
Beta 1.2
Beta 1.1
Beta 1.0
Alpha
The Alpha development phase started on June 29, 2010, and ended on December 20, 2010. This version also limited the gamemode to Survival, but saw a re-release of multiplayer. At this time, Notch began developing the game full time, causing much more frequent updates. These were also the first versions which had to be purchased, though the price increased in later stages.
Alpha 1.2
Version
|
Release date
|
Alpha v1.2.6 |
December 3, 2010
|
Alpha v1.2.5 |
December 1, 2010
|
Alpha v1.2.4_01
|
November 30, 2010
|
Alpha v1.2.3_05
|
Alpha v1.2.3_04 |
November 26, 2010
|
Alpha v1.2.3_02 |
November 25, 2010
|
Alpha v1.2.3_01
|
November 24, 2010
|
Alpha v1.2.3
|
Alpha v1.2.2 |
November 10, 2010
|
Alpha v1.2.1_01
|
November 5, 2010
|
Alpha v1.2.1
|
Alpha v1.2.0_02
|
October 31, 2010
|
Alpha v1.2.0_01
|
Alpha v1.2.0 (Halloween Update) |
October 30, 2010
|
Alpha 1.1
Alpha 1.0
Version
|
Release date
|
Alpha v1.0.17_04
|
August 23, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.17_03
|
Alpha v1.0.17_02
|
August 20, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.17_01
|
Alpha v1.0.17 (Seecret Friday 8)
|
Alpha v1.0.16_02 |
August 13, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.16_01
|
August 12, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.16
|
Alpha v1.0.15 (First SMP version) |
August 3, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.14 (Seecret Friday 7) |
July 30, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.13_01 |
July 29, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.13 |
July 28, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.12 |
July 26, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.11 (Seecret Friday 6) |
July 23, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.10 |
July 22, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.9 |
July 21, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.8_01
|
July 20, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.8
|
Alpha v1.0.7 |
July 19, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.6_03
|
July 17, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.6_02
|
Alpha v1.0.6_01
|
Alpha v1.0.6 (Seecret Friday 5) |
July 16, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.5_01 |
July 14, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.5 |
July 13, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.4 (Seecret Friday 4) |
July 8, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.3
|
July 6, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.2_02
|
Alpha v1.0.2_01
|
Alpha v1.0.2 |
July ?, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.1_01
|
July 2, 2010
|
Alpha v1.0.1 (Seecret Friday 3)
|
Alpha v1.0.0 (shown as Infdev in game) |
June 30, 2010
|
Infdev
The Infdev development phase started on February 27, 2010 and ended on June 28, 2010. During this stage, Minecraft was only available in single-player Survival mode and versions were unnumbered under the name Minecraft Indev. At this point, Notch rewrote the game code to allow mostly "infinite" terrain.
Indev
The Indev development phase started on December 23, 2009, and ended on February 27, 2010. It was the successor to the previous Survival Test and continued expanding the survival aspects of the game, making it a lot more like the current gameplay. Versions in this stage were either unnumbered or used the same number.
Classic
Key
|
Available in the launcher.
|
|
Unavailable in the launcher, but archived elsewhere.
|
|
Unavailable from launcher; no unedited version archived.
|
|
Not archived. Video/image or The Word of Notch proof exists.
|
|
Not archived. IRC chat log/changelog proof exists.
|
|
No direct evidence exists.
|
Java Edition Classic was the first long development phase of the game, in which it was constantly improved and updated over several months. It occurred between May 16 and December 23, 2009. The original game mode was Creative, but on September 1, 2009 development began for Survival mode under the name Survival Test.
Late Classic Creative
Survival Test
Multiplayer Test
Client version
|
Release date
|
Server version
|
0.0.23a_01
|
July 11, 2009
|
1.8.2[note 3]
|
0.0.23a
|
0.0.22a_05
|
June 30, 2009
|
0.0.22a_04
|
June 29, 2009
|
0.0.22a_03
|
0.0.22a_02
|
0.0.22a_01
|
0.0.22a |
June ?, 2009
|
0.0.21a_01
|
June 23, 2009
|
0.0.21a
|
0.0.20a_02
|
June 20, 2009
|
0.0.20a_01
|
1.8.1
|
0.0.20a
|
1.8
|
0.0.19a_06
|
1.7
|
0.0.19a_05
|
1.6
|
0.0.19a_04
|
0.0.19a_03
|
?
|
0.0.19a_01
|
?
|
0.0.19a
|
1.5
|
0.0.18a_02
|
June 14, 2009
|
1.4.1
|
0.0.18a_01
|
1.4
|
0.0.18a
|
0.0.17a
|
June 10, 2009
|
1.3
|
0.0.16a_02
|
June 8, 2009
|
1.2
|
0.0.16a_01
|
1.1
|
0.0.16a
|
1.0
|
0.0.15a (Multiplayer Test 3)
|
?
|
0.0.15a (Multiplayer Test 2)
|
June 3, 2009
|
0.0.15a (Multiplayer Test 1)
|
June 1, 2009
|
Early Classic Creative
Version |
Release date
|
0.0.14a_08
|
May 28, 2009
|
0.0.14a_07
|
0.0.14a_04
|
0.0.14a_03
|
0.0.14a
|
0.0.13a_03
|
May 24, 2009 August 6, 2013[note 4]
|
0.0.13a
|
May 22, 2009 August 6, 2013[note 5]
|
0.0.12a_03
|
May 20, 2009
|
0.0.12a_02
|
0.0.12a_01
|
0.0.12a
|
0.0.11a
|
May 17, 2009 August 6, 2013[note 6]
|
0.0.10a
|
May 17, 2009
|
0.0.9a
|
May 16, 2009[note 7]
|
0.0.8a[citation needed]
|
0.0.7a[citation needed]
|
0.0.6a[citation needed]
|
0.0.5a[citation needed]
|
0.0.4a
|
0.0.3a
|
0.0.2a
|
Notes
- ↑ Reuploaded version of 0.30
- ↑ Not explicitly mentioned
- ↑ Server version 1.8.3's role here is unknown.
- ↑ The launcher version of 0.0.13a_03 has a 2013 compilation date. The original 2009 version has been archived, and has identical gameplay, but the files are different.
- ↑ The launcher version of 0.0.13a may be different from the actually released version of 0.0.13a - it is suspected the version in the launcher is an early development version of 0.0.13a, as it has extremely basic world generation, which does not match up with surrounding versions or video footage.
- ↑ The launcher version of this has presumably identical gameplay, but the file is modified. The unedited version of 0.0.11a is not archived.
- ↑ These versions were not publicly released.
Pre-Classic
Key
|
Available in the launcher.
|
|
Unavailable in the launcher but direct proof exists.
|
|
Unavailable in the launcher but indirect proof exists.
|
|
No direct proof exists.
|
Pre-Classic was the initial development phase of Minecraft, in which the very basic mechanics and elements of the game were developed, tested and improved over the period of less than a week—from May 10–16, 2009. It was not originally released to the public, but some versions are now playable via the launcher.
References