It’s time to say farewell to the blocky augmented reality game Minecraft Earth. The game has finally shutdown.
Minecraft Earth has sunset after only a year and a half of being live. The game was first announced and released in 2019.
The developers, Mojang, took to Twitter to say farewell. They were thankful for the wonderful community and memories made.
Minecraft Earth came in hot following the success of Pokémon GO. It featured similar geolocation map-based gameplay but with a heavier focus on augmented reality.
The game combined the best of both worlds when it came to Minecraft and Pokémon GO.
Players in Minecraft Earth would tap to collect blocks and entities from the overworld map. You could use these blocks to then build in augmented reality!
You could also team up to build with friends or even explore and take down dungeons!
It really is a shame to see Minecraft Earth shutting down. The game actually utilised augmented reality well with its core mechanics.
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. – Arthur C. Clarke
Minecraft Earth’s use of augmented reality really felt like magic. It was amazing seeing the game interact with the real world and explore Minecraft builds life-size.
Players who have spent money on Minecraft Earth will be receiving Minecoins as compensation. The coins can be used for the Character Creator and Minecraft Marketplace.
It’s just speculation, but it seems like Minecraft Earth’s shutdown is due to COVID. The global pandemic hit most augmented reality games hard.
Many augmented reality games had a hard time trying to adapt. For example, Pokémon GO had to make drastic changes, and even brought in remote raiding.
Farewell Minecraft Earth you will be missed. Hopefully one day we see a spiritual successor.
If you want to find out more on the Minecraft Earth shutdown, you can read the announcement here. You should also check out our other AR gaming news!