We are sad to say that Minecraft Earth will be officially closing down its servers after only being out for two years due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. After Pokemon Go’s incredible success, several other high-profile companies followed the footsteps of Niantic by releasing their own location-based Augmented Reality (AR) mobile titles.
Some examples of these include Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, Dragon Quest Walk — which is only available in Japan — and even CD Projekt RED has its own AR title up its sleeve called The Witcher: Monster Slayer.
Developer Mojang decided to join the fray back in 2019 with the release of Minecraft Earth. It’s a very interesting concept, as it allows players to “build” Minecraft structures onto the actual world via AR technology. Due to the unfavorable events of 2020, many AR games had to drastically adjust and change directions. However, not all titles will be able to survive until the end of this new year, unfortunately.
After many great adventures, we’ve made the difficult decision to close down Minecraft Earth in June 2021. We’re so grateful for all your support, and today’s last build includes several adjustments to make these last months as fun as possible:
↣ https://t.co/D9fEGuOoqX ↢ pic.twitter.com/KyHIToSrsI
— Minecraft (@Minecraft) January 5, 2021
One of the AR games that we’ll have to say goodbye to now is Minecraft Earth. Mojang recently announced on Twitter that the mobile title will be shutting down its servers on June 30, 2021, but players can still enjoy it until then.
Mojang also published a post on the official Minecraft website further discussing the service’s closure and why. According to the developer, the COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted Minecraft Earth and is essentially the reason why the company decided to just close down the game.
Going outside, traveling, as well as co-op play are some of the most important elements of Minecraft Earth. These key aspects are crucial in order for the AR game to survive and remain interesting to its users. Seeing as we’re in the midst of a pandemic that encourages us all not to go outside, it’s not surprising that this mobile AR title took a hit.
Minecraft Earth players will be able to enjoy one last update, which will be released today. This update in question will remove the game’s monetization aspects and will include all the remaining features and content that Mojang was working on.
Any unused ruby balance you may have will automatically be converted into Minecoins, which you can use to purchase a variety of stuff over at the Minecraft Marketplace. On the bright side, Mojang will give you a free copy of Minecraft’s mobile version if you, at some point, spent real-world money on Minecraft Earth.
Even though Pokemon Go is still popular and thriving despite the ongoing pandemic, it appears that this AR formula just doesn’t work for all franchises. There’s only so many AR games you can fit into your daily walk, and since Pokemon Go is considered to be a pioneer in this department, more people would understandably choose it over others.
We will never know if Minecraft Earth would have had a chance of surviving if we never had this pandemic. But given these certain circumstances, we can’t blame Mojang for cutting its losses. On the bright side, the original Minecraft title is still booming to this day, so much so that it was even one of Apple’s most popular 2020 games on the App Store.
