How do I add Minecraft to Steam?

As a long-time Minecraft player and self-proclaimed gaming enthusiast, I often get asked by friends – "Is Minecraft on Steam?" Or "Can I add Minecraft to my Steam library?". As much as I would love to have all my games consolidated in Valve‘s popular platform, the answer unfortunately is not so straightforward.

Minecraft, with its 178 million monthly active players and nearly 240 million copies sold, is the ultimate indie success story. But the sandbox game is not natively available on Steam due to several business and technical factors:

Why Isn‘t Minecraft on Steam?

Minecraft is published by Mojang Studios and owned by Microsoft, not Valve – so they have no financial incentive to list on 3rd party storefronts. In 2014, Microsoft acquired Mojang for a staggering $2.5 billion to gain ownership of Minecraft‘s highly lucrative franchise.

The open Minecraft Marketplace platform allows community creators and partners to sell skins, texture packs, custom worlds and more for the game. This secondary in-game economy, which resides outside of Mojang‘s control, would be hindered by Steam‘s restrictive marketplace policies. Creators can earn thousands through participatory fan culture – and Microsoft gets a 30% commission too.

The standalone Minecraft Launcher grants Mojang direct integration with the game – enabling them to freely push updates, server content, and have a tighter feedback loop with their players. Through the Minecraft and Microsoft accounts system, they own those customer relationships rather than having to route through Steam.

So in summary – Microsoft and Mojang prefer keeping Minecraft independent from third party platforms so they can retain full control over the experience, directly monetize in-game transactions, and nurture the incredible community that has been built around this game.

But for those who still wish to access Minecraft through everyone‘s favorite PC gaming client, there are couple of workarounds…

Workaround 1 – Add Minecraft Launcher as Non-Steam Game

The easiest option is to add Minecraft Launcher as a "non-Steam game" directly through the Steam client:

1. Open the Steam Client and click "Games" in the top menu
2. Choose "Add a Non-Steam Game to My Library"
3. Browse for the "Minecraft Launcher" executable on your PC, which is usually located under C:\Program Files\Minecraft Launcher\MinecraftLauncher.exe
4. Click "Add Selected Programs" to complete the process

This will create a new entry called "Minecraft Launcher" in your Steam library, with the generic Steam icon since there are no associated artwork or assets.

However, you can now launch the Minecraft game directly through the Steam client just as you would any other Steam title! The Launcher will boot up, you can input your Microsoft/Mojang account credentials, and voilà – Minecraft will start!

The only downside is you lose native Steam features like screenshots, achievement tracking, and controller support. But convenience-wise, it provides quick access without much effort.

Adding Minecraft Launcher to Steam (Image credit: u/Th3angryman on Reddit)

Workaround 2 – Use Steam ROM Manager

For a more seamless integration with some Steam functionality, third party tools like Steam ROM Manager are a great solution. With a bit more setup, ROM Manager can import Minecraft into your library with proper artwork fetched from SteamGridDB to match the rest of your library.

The key advantage of Steam ROM Manager is it wraps emulator programs and standalone executables into a format Steam understands. This allows adding custom artwork, achievements, controller configs, and community features for non-Steam titles.

The steps would be:

1. Download and install Steam ROM Manager
2. In the Manager, choose to import the "Minecraft Launcher" executable
3. Customize options like artwork, descriptions etc. and add it to Steam
4. A shortcut called "Minecraft Launcher" now appears in your Steam library!

With this method, Minecraft fits seamlessly into your collection. And bonus – if you add friends through Steam Remote Play Together, it even enables online multiplayer support!

The biggest risk with workaround solutions is the chance they may break or cause problems when Minecraft updates. But as long as the core Launcher executable remains unchanged, it should continue working smoothly.

Evaluating the Pros and Cons of Launching via Steam

While the above solutions allow players to access Minecraft through Steam, how beneficial is this really? Let‘s weigh up some potential advantages against drawbacks:

For me, the convenience of accessing everything from one spot in Steam outweighs some of the downsides around limited feature compatibility. As a prolific Steam user, I also love showing off my gameplay activity and hours clocked across my entire catalog!

But I can understand for less dedicated Steam gamers, these technical workarounds bring limited benefit especially around owned content and multiplayer. At the end of the day, the native Launcher still provides fullest functionality.

So in summary – yes it IS possible to add Minecraft as a non-Steam title into your library, but native limitations exist compared to a fully integrated Steam release. Each player will need to decide if the unified launcher experience fits their gaming needs!

I hope this guide has provided fellow Minecraft and Steam enthusiasts a few handy solutions for bringing the darling indie sandbox into Valve‘s ecosystem. Game on!