A little over one year after launching Minecraft Earth in the US, Microsoft announced this week it will shut down the game later in the year. Minecraft Earth players will have until June 30, 2021 to play the augmented reality title. It's not available to download from app marketplaces and is not available to download.
Developer Mojang Studios blamed the coronavirus pandemic as well as the changes to daily life that have been brought about by it for the closure. "Minecraft Earth was created around free movement and collaborative play and collaboration - two things that have become nearly impossible in the current climate," the studio said. Similar to Niantic with Pokemon Go, Mojang had altered the game to make it easier to play at home. Clearly, these changes were not enough.
After many amazing adventures, we have made the difficult decision that Minecraft Earth will be shut down in June 2021. We're so grateful for all your support and today's final version includes a few tweaks to make these final months as enjoyable as we can:
- https://t.co/D9fEGuOoqX - pic.twitter.com/KyHIToSrsI
- Minecraft (@Minecraft) 5 January 2021. If there's a silver lining in the news today, it's that Mojang plans to exit Minecraft Earth in style. Mojang is rolling out one final update to Minecraft Earth, which it claims contains changes "to make your time in Minecraft Earth as fun as possible." In addition to other improvements, the update does away the use of real money transactions and significantly reduces the amount of time it will take players to design and create things in the game. The update also gives players a chance to see all the content Mojang was working on prior to today's announcement. The studio stated that they believe the changes will allow players to play, create, explore and share more, all while staying safe inside.
Microsoft will erase user data on July 1 after June 30th is finished. You'll receive a token if you make a purchase in Minecraft Earth during the game's duration. This token will enable you to download the Bedrock version of Minecraft to your smartphone. There are more details about the shut-down on the Minecraft website.
This is a disappointing ending for Minecraft Earth for Microsoft. When we first the game in action at WWDC 2019, it was clear that Microsoft was optimistic about the game. The fact that Minecraft Earth couldn't survive through the epidemic, despite all of Microsoft's resources available it's not a good sign for the future of consumer AR applications.
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"We're forever thankful for the talent of the Minecraft community," Mojang said. "This was not an easy choice. We're doing everything possible to ensure that you get the most value from Minecraft Earth before it goes dark."