The open source voxel engine formerly known as Minetest is back on Google Play after the company rescinded its August takedown notice. The Luanti team called the original claim baseless since their project ships no Minecraft assets.
The Luanti project is back on the Google Play Store. On September 8 the developers posted an update confirming Microsoft had withdrawn the DMCA notice that got the app pulled in August.
What the Notice Actually Said
The complaint filed by Tracer.ai on behalf of Microsoft pointed to US copyright registration TX 8-192-097 for Minecraft Java Edition 1.9. Luanti maintainers noted that their engine is a clean room open source project that ships no proprietary assets or code from Minecraft. Users download community created games separately through ContentDB.
Luanti, renamed from Minetest in 2024, is a free and open source voxel game engine used to create everything from survival games to elaborate technical mods. It has long been compared to Minecraft but operates completely independently. The team emphasized they are a non profit community project and not a commercial competitor.
The Luanti app does not contain any proprietary code or assets from Minecraft or otherwise.
The restoration is a small victory for open source gaming but it also spotlights how quickly legitimate projects can disappear from major storefronts when large companies file broad DMCA claims. Players looking for an alternative to the official launcher or Bedrock experience now have easier access again on Android.
- Luanti Android app restored to Google Play
- DMCA notice withdrawn by Microsoft after developer counter notice
- Original claim referenced 2015 era Minecraft copyright registration
- Similar notice successfully fought in 2023
If you run a Luanti server or just want to experiment with the engine the app is once again available for download. The project maintains active development and a large library of community content that continues to grow independently of Mojang.
Other
Other