Microsoft has announced that it will end support for its AR game for mobile, Minecraft Earth, in June this year. The developers have released the final build of the game, which has been designed to help gamers make the most of the few months left until the servers and support for the mobile game is shut down.
To recall, Microsoft launched Minecraft Earth to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Minecraft. The game was launched on mobile devices and used Augmented Reality to project Minecraft blocks in the real world, thereby letting players build around them.
The company said in a blog post, "we want to take a moment to thank all of the players and creators that are bringing new adventures, mobs, and free in-game items for the community to enjoy while we finalize our timeline for sunsetting the game. Your feedback and creations brought this game to an entirely different level, from the regular build challenges you absolutely smashed to the incredible builds you shared on social media. We’re eternally grateful for the amazing talent in the Minecraft community. This was not an easy decision, and we’re doing everything we can to make sure you get the most out of Minecraft Earth before it sunsets."
As part of the Final Build’s plan to speed things up, the time requirements for crafting and smelting have been reduced. Further, all real-money transitions have been removed completely while ruby costs have been “drastically” reduced. Further, all unused crafting and smelting boosts will be replaced with radius boosts of the same level. As an added bonus, all players who log in before June 30 will receive a set of character creator items. Finally, all completed but unreleased content in the developer’s pipeline will be released.
Microsoft says that it will discontinue all content and service support for the game on June 30. This includes all development and after that, users will be unable to download and play Minecraft Earth anymore. On July 1, it will delete any player data unreleased to Character Creation and Minecoin entitlements.
All players with paid ruby balances will be granted Minecoins, which can then be used on the Minecraft Marketplace to purchase skin and texture packs, maps, and even minigames. Further, if a player ever made an in-game purchase, they will receive a free copy of the bedrock version of Minecraft.