If you’re trying to play the new mobile game, Minecraft Earth, you might be seeing an error that says “Not Available In Your Country.” Many people are confused by this because they thought the game was already released in the United States. Here’s what that error message means.
People in the U.S. Are Still Seeing the ‘Not Available in Your Country’ Error
Although an early release version of the game is now available to players throughout the United States, some people in the U.S. are still seeing the “Not Available in Your Country” error when they go to their app store to try to download and play the game.
Sadly, you might be seeing this message because your phone isn’t compatible with the game. Yes, sometimes the message is misleading and you’ll see that it’s “not available” just because your phone can’t run the game. This is especially a big problem for Android players. There are actually a surprising number of Android phones that aren’t compatible.
This is happening because the game requires the use of AR to run and a lot of phones, even newer phones, just aren’t compatible with this. (For Pokemon Go, in contrast, you can turn off the AR feature and still play the game.) In addition, some Android phones that should be compatible are essentially blacklisted because they ran so poorly with the game.
You can see a full list of iOS and Android phones that are and aren’t compatible in Heavy’s story here.
You might also see the message if your phone isn’t running Android 8 and above or iOS 12 or above.
Play Minecraft Earth suggests trying to install ARCore if it looks like your Android phone should be compatible and you’re still getting the message. If the Google Playstore won’t let you install ARCore, you can try to install it from an APK file using the ARCore APKMirror page, Play Minecraft Earth notes. (Just make sure you’re downloading a genuine APK. This can be a bit tricky unless your technically minded, and often doesn’t work.)
Meanwhile, some players are trying to download the game’s APK file if they get the “not available” error and their phone supports ARCore but is still listed as not compatible. Of course, you have to be careful to make sure you’re downloading a genuine APK and not a fake. And once again, if there’s a reason your phone isn’t compatible, then downloading the APK file might still not help the game to actually run.
If you do try an APK method, just remember that sometimes playing with an APK file can get you banned. With Pokemon Go, some players who were playing via a downloaded APK were later banned. So this might not be a risk worth taking if you’re worried about losing all your progress at some point in the future.
If you’re still having a problem and you’re using a compatible phone in a region where the game is available, consider emailing support and asking for help.
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What To Do if You See Minecraft Earth’s ‘Not Available in Your Country’ Error