Minecraft Earth Is Already Shutting Down

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A hugely famous property is bought out by a much more successful tech giant. It expands slightly, and the tech giant begins spin-off titles. Spin-off titles get stranger and one is announced “coming to early access soon,” quietly releases, and closes after just under two years. Well, that’s where we’re at with Minecraft Earth, the augmented reality thing which was showcased at E3 under the HoloLens… thing. Of course, the HoloLens itself has yet to officially release with a consumer version. In fact the second development-build was announced under two years ago.

Since the “mind-blowing” display shown at E3 for one device, it later would come to iOS and Android in select regions four-years later. It had become Minecraft Earth, which has seen its last update. In the announcement yesterday, the blame came down to the current COVID-19 pandemic: “Minecraft Earth was designed around free movement and collaborative play – two things that have become near impossible in the current global situation.” The “Pokémon Go-like” augmented reality was first released in a closed beta in cities such as Seattle and London following an announcement at E3 in 2019. Stockhome, Tokyo, and Mexico City followed soon after.

Later that same year the game came to early access, releasing slowly in locations for iOS and Android users. By mid-December 2019 the game would be available for a majority of the world; which is something I’d say contributes to a lack of players. The silent publishing and gradual release without much pomp and circumstance around each rollout could be to blame. As the announcement came from the game’s official blog, it also states: “[W]e still have one update left. Today we are releasing the final build of the game, containing some changes to make your time in Minecraft Earth as fun as possible.”

The changes are quite funny for a free-to-play game to claim are going to make the game “as fun as possible.” For starters, all microtransactions are gone with this latest update, with the in-game currency that was purchasable now being cheaper for those with money still in accounts. This along with the free-to-play staple of timers are all now reduced. I won’t outright say I was right, but the things I have been saying make all free-to-play nonsense unbearable and unfun are what they have removed to make it fun. Ok, I may have said it inadvertently.

So, with the final update, there comes the date of the game-as-a-service game being shut down, or more aptly, the servers being switched off. You can (of course) still play Minecraft Earth if you so wish. Nevertheless, the shut down is set for June 30th, 2021. Players who have made purchases will get a free copy of the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft, and players with paid ruby balances will be granted Minecoins which can be used in the Minecraft marketplace. The marketplace is where you can purchase official skin and texture packs made for the Bedrock Edition of the game.

Finally, Mojang would go on to state: “[W]e want to take a moment to thank all of the players and creators that are bringing new adventures, mobs, and free in-game items for the community to enjoy while we finalize our timeline for sunsetting the game.” They went on to say, “Your feedback and creations brought this game to an entirely different level, from the regular build challenges you absolutely smashed to the incredible builds you shared on social media.” and closed with, “We’re eternally grateful for the amazing talent in the Minecraft community. This was not an easy decision, and we’re doing everything we can to make sure you get the most out of Minecraft Earth before it sunsets.”

The idea of Minecraft in augmented reality is one of ambition, one which if was it fully attainable would be mind-blowing. The game itself has sustained over 10-years of success. This spin-off, though flawed it might have been, still almost saw two years of that. To have that infinite building capacity right there in front of you, that is the Star Trek tech of the future and we’ve seen a tiny bit of that in our lifetime. Here is hoping with the release of the HoloLens (wherever that does come) we see a return of Minecraft Earth so I can live a blocky LeVar Burton lifestyle, one day.