Have you ever wondered what it would be like to play Minecraft in AR? Well, your chance will be coming in the near future. There is no better way to celebrate a 10-year anniversary other than by finally being able to announce an all-new augmented reality mobile game “Minecraft Earth” which will be free-to-play on both iOS and Android. This is Minecraft like you’ve never experienced it before, bringing you the best of Minecraft, but IRL!
Other awesome information during the announcements include that in the 10 years, Minecraft continues to grow! The team has now passed 200 million registered users of the China edition of Minecraft, there have been nearly 130 million Minecraft Hour of Code sessions completed, and the base game has sold 176 million copies worldwide!!!
Here’s some of the awesomeness you’ll be able to experience:
- Go on Adventures! In “Minecraft Earth,” you’ll go out in the real world to find small clusters of blocks, chests or mobs called Tappables. As you walk, you will also find Adventures, which are small slices of Minecraft worlds that you play in life-size AR – your sidewalk becomes a mine where there may be diamonds under your feet, or your local park may have Minecraft trees where skeletons lurk, ready for a skirmish! Players will collect resources, fight mobs, and gain experience points to progress in their career.
- Collect, explore and survive! “Minecraft Earth” features many of the Vanilla Minecraft mobs that our players know and love, along with new ones we can’t wait to reveal (later). Over time, players will get the chance to discover and collect unique variants and use them to populate builds, as well as gather resources and take on nearby challenges.
- Experience your creations in front of you or ALL AROUND YOU! Players can build their own permanent creations in “Minecraft Earth” through Build Plates – the best implementation of the creative spirit of the Vanilla game. Build in small, tabletop-sized environments where you can interact from above, or place your Build Plates on the ground to see your creations outside in life-size scale.
- Collaborative multiplayer! Optimized for social multiplayer experiences, anyone with an AR-capable smartphone and “Minecraft Earth” installed will be able to join your session quickly and have fun together.
- Fancy-tech! “Minecraft Earth” blends state-of-the-art Microsoft technology like Azure Spatial Anchors tracking and PlayFab integration to bring the game to life for a sophisticated AR gaming experience.
Head over to Minecraft.net/earth and follow @MinecraftEarth for more info and to sign up for a chance to get into the closed beta this summer.
