Minecraft Earth is officially shutting down this summer. Thus, the augmented reality variant of Minecraft meets an early demise. However, there will be one last update.
Why Minecraft Earth is dying in 2021: As the developers announced in a blog post (via Minecraft.net), all support for Minecraft Earth will end in June 2021. All development will cease on June 30, and the game will no longer be downloadable or playable.
The reason, according to the post, is the year 2020, including the pandemic situation. Minecraft Earth is, quite similar to Pokémon GO, an AR game that connects the real world with the mobile game. Here, it’s not about catching Pokémon, but rather building and exploring dungeons, but the approach of moving through the real world is comparable.
The developers emphasize this as well: “Minecraft Earth was developed around free movement and communal play – two things that have become almost impossible in the current global situation,” says the post.
For this reason, they decided to focus their resources on other areas “that offer added value to the Minecraft community.”
This means Minecraft Earth meets an early end: It was launched in Early Access in October 2019 in New Zealand before rolling out worldwide in the following months. By the end of November 2019, it was also available as Minecraft Earth starts in Early Access – But when in Germany?. Now, just a little over a year later, the announcement of the end of Minecraft Earth follows.
This is how Minecraft Earth will handle its last months
The game will not fade away quietly but will instead have a few months that can be played from home. Therefore, there is one last update that is now available.
This is what the update brings: With the update, a lot will change in the game. Among other things, real-money transactions will be removed from the game, and the costs for in-game content paid with “gems” will be drastically lowered. The duration of crafting and smelting will also be reduced.
Additionally, all content that has been developed but not yet published will be introduced into the game. Players will also receive a set of character creation items if they sign up between January 5 and June 30. In short: Everything will be faster and easier to attain.
Those who have already spent real money in the game will not receive a refund but are expected to receive a free download of Minecraft for mobile platforms.
Thus, an online game is already leaving the scene in 2021. Will it be the only one? MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch has a few other candidates in mind.
