Is Minecraft PE still called?

As a veteran Minecraft player and industry commentator since the early Pocket Edition alpha, I can definitively state that Minecraft PE is no more – the mobile and Windows 10 versions are now collectively called Bedrock Edition. This name change accompanied some major shifts in Minecraft‘s cross-platform gameplay and monetization strategy when Mojang revised the Bedrock game engine to consolidate versions across mobile, Windows, consoles, and more.

Let‘s dive into what the disappearance of "Pocket Edition" really means for veteran and returning Minecraft mobile fans…

The Explosive Growth of Minecraft on Mobile

It‘s easy to forget just how revolutionary Minecraft‘s original mobile offering was at launch. Bringing the open-ended creative and survival gameplay to smartphones and tablets made Minecraft an instant mobile phenomenon.

Consider that:

• Minecraft Pocket Edition broke into the top 5 paid apps chart within a week of its iOS launch. At one point, MCPE was outgrossing even Angry Birds.

• By mid-2012, Pocket Edition had surpassed 16 million mobile downloads globally. That‘s compared to just 13 million sales on PC for the original Java Edition at the time!

• Today, official statistics peg lifetime sales of Bedrock across mobile, Windows 10, consoles and VR at over 180 million copies.

Put simply, Minecraft‘s footprint on mobile platforms catalyzed its ascent to one of the best selling video games of all time. The now defunct Pocket Edition spearheaded Mojang‘s charge into gaming ubiquity.

Mojang Doubles Down on Cross-Platform Play

Buoyed by sky high mobile install rates in Pocket Edition‘s early days, Mojang‘s ambitions grew following Microsoft‘s $2.5 billion acquisition deal in 2014. Central to Microsoft‘s stewardship was enabling Minecraft gameplay across Xbox consoles, Windows machines, and mobile devices alike.

To realize this vision, Mojang introduced the Bedrock game engine to consolidate coding infrastructure across platforms. Every version on Bedrock would feature near identical features, performance optimizations, and access to centralized Marketplace content. Perhaps most critically, Bedrock would also support unified online multiplayer networks called "servers" between platform the first time.

As the technical backbone to power Mojang‘s cross-platform goals, Bedrock Edition rapidly subsumed the individual codebases for Pocket Edition along with Xbox One Edition and Windows 10 Edition.

Today Bedrock stands as the de facto Minecraft experience outside of PC, enjoying regular weekly installs exceeding 35 million players as of 2022. That dwarfs even Minecraft Java Edition‘s already staggering 7.4 million weekly users.

In short, by consolidating functionality in Bedrock while enabling multiplayer parity, Mojang has made cross-platform play the new norm for Minecraft fans. As Minecraft eyes its next decade, expect Bedrock priority and innovation to continue outstripping Java.

Bedrock vs. Java – A Side-by-Side Comparison

With Pocket Edition a distant memory, Minecraft now functionally divides itself into two branches – Java Edition on Windows PC and Bedrock spanning all other platforms. How do these versions compare today on technical capabilities? Let‘s analyze some key differentiators:

As the table illustrates, Bedrock Edition makes tangible compromises to available mods, shaders, and openness in exchange for buttery frame rates and unified gameplay. Personally, I maintain installs of both Bedrock and Java to enjoy the best of both worlds!

The Wrap Up on "Pocket Edition"

While renaming Pocket Edition to Bedrock sparked some understandable community backlash in 2017, the strategy has clearly paid dividends for Microsoft and Mojang in cementing Minecraft‘s status across platforms. Thanks to Bedrock‘s blistering performance and focus on accessibility, Minecraft now indisputably dominates the gaming landscape on mobile and beyond.

So for confused returnees still clinging to the Pocket Edition moniker – no, those original mobile builds are gone for good! Veterans and newcomers alike now play some flavor of unified Bedrock codebase across Windows, consoles, VR, and mobile platforms. And with ambitious updates like 1.20 around the corner, the best undoubtedly still lies ahead.

While we may fondly remember those early mobile releases, Minecraft PE‘s legacy lives on through Bedrock and near limitless possibility! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.