In 2009, the Minecraft phenomenon was released. Ten years later, and more than 91 million players keep building virtual worlds every month. That’s still enough to best the newest cultural juggernaut, Fortnite.
For today’s ten-year anniversary, the folks behind Minecraft are announcing a new game – Minecraft Earth. It’s an augmented reality mobile version of the hit game. Think Pokemon Go but with Minecraft.
In a beta starting this summer, people will be able to build whatever they can dream up all around them. Here’s a bit more from the developer:
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.
And your builds become permanent fixtures in real life through what Mojang describes as “Build Plates.”
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.
Here’s a trailer showing what’s sure to be the next mobile hit. (I believe that’s the Build Plates we see at 0:31 in the trailer.)
A closed beta kicks off this summer with a full release later in the year.