Mojang announces the launch of Minecraft Realms in North America, which offers a way to host a Minecraft world for yourself and your friends with a minimum of fuss. Here's how this works:

Realms is the easiest way for you to host a Minecraft world online. You and your friends can work on an awesome creation, adventure into the depths, or play one of our featured mini-games with just a few clicks.

The servers are always available, and can be restored to an earlier point if something goes wrong. Realms is run by Mojang and simple to set up.

Realms is currently only available for the PC version of Minecraft, though we’re planning on releasing it on other formats in the future. For more information, check minecraft.net/realms

Minecraft Realms is currently available in Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Great Britain, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, North America, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden, The Åland Islands, The Cayman Islands, The Faroe Islands, The Isle of Man, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, and The United Arab Emirates.