Just a little over a year after the official release of Minecraft Earth, Mojang has announced the game will be shutting down. A final update for Minecraft Earth is releasing today, which removes monetization. The patch also reduces ruby costs and time requirements for crafting and smelting. Additionally, the studio released all completed content in the development pipeline for players to enjoy.
Why is Minecraft Earth shutting down?
Unfortunately, Minecraft Earth is a victim of bad timing. The game works similarly to Pokemon Go, with the intent being that users play on the go in an AR simulation. The app was released shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic, which has severely hindered users from playing the game as intended.
With no end in sight for COVID-19, it makes sense that the studio has decided to end development on the game. Unlike Pokemon Go, this game never really had a chance to build a player base, so there’s no incentive to spend development resources on workarounds.
Minecraft Earth Final Update Patch Notes
The patch notes for the final update of Minecraft Earth detail some fundamental changes for the game:
- 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
When will Minecraft Earth shut down?
Minecraft Earth will be discontinued on June 30. On July 1, all player data will be deleted, and Mojang will take the servers offline. Any attempt to log in after that point will be met with a screen stating that the game is no longer available.
What will happen to my Minecraft Earth purchases
Fortunately, Mojang isn’t leaving Minecraft Earth players empty-handed. Character creator items will remain usable in Minecraft. Any player who has spent money in the game will receive a free download code for Minecraft. Additionally, any player with a ruby balance will receive the equivalent value in Minecoins, which can be used in the Minecraft Marketplace.
