Minecraft Earth Is Shutting Down This Summer
The mobile game will no longer be available to download or play.
In late 2019, Minecraft Earth launched on mobile devices. The free-to-play mobile game is similar to Pokemon Go, in that it encourages players to explore the real-world in order to get the most out of the game (Minecraft Earth uses players’ real locations to present them with an in-game map and interactive items -- learn more in our previous coverage).
Now, less than two years after the game's release, Minecraft Earth is being shut down.
On the Minecraft website, the Minecraft Earth team explained the closure:
“Minecraft Earth was designed around free movement and collaborative play – two things that have become near impossible in the current global situation. As a result, we have made the difficult decision to re-allocate our resources to other areas that provide value to the Minecraft community and to end support for Minecraft Earth in June 2021.”
Minecraft Earth will stop being supported on June 30, 2021. In other words, after that date, you will no longer be able to play the game on your iOS or Android device, and the game will no longer be available to download.
Ahead of the closure, Minecraft Earth will receive one final update Tuesday that will change the game’s economy and give players new features to enjoy in the time they still have left.
Specifically, this update will remove the ability to spend real money in the game, and it will also “drastically” lower the cost of items that can be purchased with the Rubies players may already have. The time required to craft and smelt items will also be reduced.
The Minecraft Earth team provided a full list of the changes coming in this final update:
"Starting with today’s update, we are:
- Removing real-money transactions
- Drastically reducing ruby costs
- Including all completed, unreleased content currently in our pipeline
- Reducing time requirements for crafting and smelting
- Replacing unused crafting & smelting boosts with radius boosts of the same level
- Granting a set of Character Creator items to players who sign in between January 5 and June 30”
If your family ever spent real money to purchase Rubies in Minecraft Earth, you’ll receive Minecoins as a form of compensation. These Minecoins can be spent on the Minecraft Marketplace to purchase a variety of in-game content for Minecraft, such as skins and texture packs. In addition, if you ever made a purchase of any kind in Minecraft Earth, you’ll receive a free download of the Bedrock version of Minecraft.
To learn more about Minecraft Earth's closure, check out Minecraft’s website.
Brandy Berthelson has been writing about video games and technology since 2006, with her work appearing on sites including AOL Games, Digital Spy, and Adweek’s Social Pro Daily. When she’s not gaming, Brandy enjoys crafting, baking, and traveling with her husband.
