The open source voxel platform formerly known as Minetest lost its Google Play listing after Tracer.ai filed a copyright notice on behalf of Microsoft. The Luanti team says the claim is baseless, identical to one they successfully countered in 2023, and appears driven by automated AI tools.
The Luanti team woke up this week to find their Android app removed from the Google Play Store. The culprit was a DMCA notice sent by Tracer.ai on behalf of Microsoft claiming the app infringes on Minecraft copyright. According to the project, this is the exact same baseless complaint they beat back in 2023 after a 46 day ordeal.
Luanti is not a Minecraft clone. It is an open source voxel game creation platform where players build, share, and host their own games and servers. It ships with no default game assets and has been around for over a decade under its previous name Minetest. The source code is public. None of it comes from Mojang or Microsoft.
Automated enforcement at scale
The Luanti blog post points out that Tracer.ai appears to be using AI to scan for anything with a blocky aesthetic and fire off notices. The same outfit targeted the indie voxel game Allumeria earlier this year with similar results. These actions do not require human review before they yank apps from the largest Android distribution channel on earth.
The team has submitted a counter notice and expects the app back soon. In the meantime Luanti recommends users get it from F-Droid or their own site. They are also calling publicly on Microsoft, Mojang, and Tracer.ai to stop relying on automated inaccurate DMCA filings.
This is not some one off moderation glitch. The consumer rights wiki tracking these incidents lists a pattern of DMCA actions against voxel projects, competing games, and even tools that help players run older versions or bypass certain restrictions. When the target is open source and transparent it becomes hard to argue the notice was filed in good faith.
We call on Microsoft, Mojang, and Tracer.ai to stop relying on AI tools to send inaccurate and vague DMCA notices.
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