Editing Minecraft account migration

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On October 21st, 2020, [[Mojang]] announced that all Minecraft Java Edition users must migrate their Mojang accounts to Microsoft accounts to retain access to the game. On December 18th, 2023, consumers who did not do so lost access and needed to re-purchase the game to regain it.

==General==
[[wikipedia:Minecraft|'''''Minecraft''''']] is a sandbox video game developed by Swedish developer '''Mojang Studios''' (also known as '''Mojang AB''' or simply '''Mojang'''). The original PC version of the game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson using the Java programming language, and it is known as "Minecraft Java Edition". The first public alpha version of Java Edition came out on May 17th, 2009, then fully released on November 18th, 2011. On September 15th, 2014, Mojang was acquired by '''[[Microsoft]]'''.<ref name=":1" />     

Throughout Java Edition's development, players could exclusively access their purchased copy of the game through the use of a Mojang account.<ref name=":2" /> However, on October 21st, 2020, Mojang announced that Minecraft Java Edition players must migrate their Mojang accounts to Microsoft accounts.<ref name=":03">[https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/java-edition-moving-house "Java Edition is moving house"] - minecraft.net - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> Consumers who did not migrate their accounts by December 18th, 2023 lost their access to the game and had to re-purchase Minecraft Java Edition under a Microsoft account with a new username at full retail price if they wanted to play.<ref name=":3" />

At the time of Mojang's acquisition by Microsoft, the PC version of Minecraft was known as "Minecraft Java Edition". Before the acquisition and at least through the end of 2019, customers who wanted to purchase Minecraft Java Edition would do so by creating a Mojang account and buying the game under that account's name.<ref name=":1">[https://web.archive.org/web/20191219131419/https://my.minecraft.net/en-us/login/ "Archived Minecraft Website from December 19, 2019 showing Mojang Accounts were the exclusive method of signing in"] - archive.org</ref>  Minecraft Java Edition owners would then play the game by signing into the game's launcher with their Mojang Account.     

Mojang announced on October 21, 2020 that Minecraft Java Edition players would need to migrate their Mojang account to a Microsoft account.<ref name=":0">[https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/java-edition-moving-house "Java Edition is moving house"] - minecraft.net - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> Those who migrated their Mojang accounts to Microsoft accounts would maintain access to their username, cosmetics, player worlds, and earn an exclusive cosmetic cape.<ref name=":0" />    

Mojang's staff wrote wrote the following about the account migration:  <blockquote>"Now just to be clear, migrating from Mojang to Microsoft accounts is ''mandatory''. If you don’t make the move, in several months you won’t be able to log in anymore – which means you won’t be able to play either."<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>Account migration started in waves or "batches" sometime in early 2021.<ref name=":0" /> Initially, account migration was voluntary, and users with Mojang accounts could play Minecraft Java Edition without needing to migrate their accounts. On February 2, 2022, Mojang announced that on March 10, 2022 the voluntary migration period would end and that Mojang account users would be unable to play Minecraft Java Edition without migrating their account. On May 8, 2023, Mojang announced that Mojang account owners would have until September 19, 2023 to migrate to a Microsoft account or permanently lose the capacity to migrate their account. Following this September 19, 2023 deadline, Mojang gave Mojang account owners who missed the deadline a three month grace period through December 18, 2023 to migrate their account.<ref name=":2">[https://web.archive.org/web/20231210202436/https://help.minecraft.net/hc/en-us/articles/19615552270221 "Post-Migration Process FAQ"] - help.minecraft.net - archived 2023-12-10</ref> Mojang account owners who exercised their option under this three-month grace period would not have access to the cosmetics associated with their Mojang account or the certainty that they would enjoy the username associated with their Mojang account under their Microsoft account. After December 18, 2023, Mojang account owners who had purchased Minecraft Java Edition from Mojang would need to purchase Minecraft under a Microsoft account in order to play the game.  

On a page titled "I Missed My Chance to Migrate. What Happens to My Account?" on the official Minecraft Help Center, Mojang explains:  <blockquote>"To continue playing Minecraft, you will have to buy  Minecraft: Java & Bedrock Edition using a Microsoft account.<ref name=":3">[https://help.minecraft.net/hc/en-us/articles/19633473939981-I-Missed-My-Chance-to-Migrate-What-Happens-to-My-Account "I Missed My Chance to Migrate. What Happens to My Account?"] - help.minecraft.net - accessed 2025-02-01</ref>    </blockquote>Due to the age of Minecraft, and not needing a email to sign in, many of the email address's that were linked to old accounts had been forgotten, lost, or deleted. This left players unable to migrate their old Mojang accounts, even if they were aware of the situation. Microsoft offered little support to these players as, even during the migration period, it was not made easy to contact the people behind Minecraft. Support was not replying to questions about the migration process and issues with it. 


Users who could not figure out how to migrate their accounts that they bought in the pre-release era had to re-purchase Minecraft with a different username for a post-release price (Alpha costing 9.95€, Beta costing 14.95€, and the full release being 29.99€). Additionally, even if users successfully migrated their account, in the event that their Microsoft account is compromised, there is currently no avenue for Minecraft account recovery or refunding the initial purchase, and the user is required to re-purchase Minecraft to regain access to the game<ref>https://archive.org/details/microsoft-email</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-24 |title=Can i do something against this? Microsoft says that I have to repurchase the game!? |url=https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fcan-i-do-something-against-this-microsoft-says-that-i-have-v0-yjhz852gys8d1.png%3Fwidth%3D2028%26format%3Dpng%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3Dc3fefb859c778af5218802093b645ecc21d06702 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250812032340/http://web.archive.org/screenshot/https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fcan-i-do-something-against-this-microsoft-says-that-i-have-v0-yjhz852gys8d1.png%3Fwidth%3D2028%26format%3Dpng%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3Dc3fefb859c778af5218802093b645ecc21d06702 |archive-date=2025-08-12 |access-date=2025-08-11}}</ref>.

In https://web.archive.org/web/20210813083726/https://notch.tumblr.com/post/2175441966/minecraft-beta-december-20-2010 Notch promised in his blog that all purchasers of the Alpha version of the game would get all purchases of the game for free, even saying ''"a promise is a promise"'', as he removed it from purchases made after the release of Beta.

==Class Action Lawsuit==
On August 16th, 2025, Kian Brose announced that they have partnered with Singularity Law AB (Sweden) to file a class-action lawsuit against Mojang<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brose |first=Kian |date=16 Aug 2025 |title=We’re Suing Minecraft in a Class Action Lawsuit |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_UF_4gZclI}}</ref> for their anti-consumer practices. Of the several types of damage groups mentioned in the announcement video, the class with the most potential participants is anyone impacted by this account migration. 

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Incidents]]
[[Category:Minecraft]]