Pokemon Go-Style AR game, Minecraft Earth, closes in June

Mojang Studios has announced that it has confirmed its mobile game Minecraft Earth, which allows players to communicate with a Minecraft game, on the correct GPS data, in a new blog post. game with plans to end support on June 30, 2021. Although never explicitly mentioned, the developers cite the complications of running an AR game during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of its decision to shut down Minecraft Earth.

“Minecraft Earth is designed around free movement and collaborative play – two things that have become almost impossible in the current global situation,” the staff wrote in a blog post. Other AR games, such as Pokemon Go, faced similar COVID-related obstacles during the pandemic.

However, the developers will support Minecraft Earth until June 2021 and release another update before the end that will allow players to enjoy it before closing.

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As part of the update, Minecraft Earth will remove real money transactions, drastically reduce ruby ​​costs, add all content – complete and not yet released, reduce manufacturing and melting time requirements, replace unused manufacturing and melting enhancements with radius enhancements and provide a set of Character Creator items to all who sign up between January 5th and June 30th.

Then, on June 30, Mojang will discontinue all content and service support for Minecraft Earth. It will also mean that people will no longer be able to download or play Minecraft Earth. On July 1, Mojang will remove any data from Minecraft Earth players not related to Character Creator

As another bonus, anyone who paid for the currency in the game, Minecoins that can be used on the Minecraft Marketplace, and anyone who made a purchase in Minecraft Earth will receive a free copy of the Minecraft Bedrock Edition.

IGN has a brief overview of Minecraft Earth here if you are interested in checking out the AR game before it goes down well on June 30th.