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Minecraft Earth set to shutdown in June 2021

The AR title launched in October 2019

Minecraft Earth set to shutdown in June 2021

Mojang's Minecraft Earth is set to close down in June this year. 

The company made the announcement in blog post on the Minecraft website earlier today. 

Minecraft Earth launched less than two years ago in October, 2019. The AR spinoff of Mojang's popular sandbox game experienced a successful launch, racking up over 2.5 million downloads in its first month.

"Minecraft Earth was designed around free movement and collaborative play – two things that have become near impossible in the current global situation," the blog post read.

"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."

Location lockdown

It's been a tough year for location-based titles, with the COVID-19 pandemic keeping a majority of people shut in their homes. However, several companies pivoted to accommodate the lockdowns and keep their players occupied.

Minecraft Earth was no exception; Mojang made several tweaks to the game back in May to make it enjoyable without going out. Despite these tweaks, the title has proved unsustainable in the current market. 

Mojang will delete all Minecraft Earth player data unrelated to Character Creator and Minecoin entitlements on July 1st. Any users that have made a purchase in Minecraft Earth will be gifted a free copy of Minecraft.


Editor

Danielle Partis is editor of PocketGamer.biz and former editor of InfluencerUpdate.biz. She was named Journalist of the Year at the MCV Women in Games Awards 2019, as well as in the MCV 30 under 30 2020. Prior to Steel Media, she wrote about music and games at Team Rock.