Microsoft has provided a first look at its augmented reality mobile game, Minecraft Earth, before its planned iOS and Android beta launch this summer.
Minecraft Earth was officially unveiled using a fancy CGI trailer last month. It is an exciting mixture of Pokemon-Go-like resource gathering and augmented reality structure building, very similar to Microsoft’s older Minecraft HoloLens tech demonstration.
The second exciting component enables multiple players to cooperate and construct virtual Minecraft structures together in real life.
The four-minute-long demonstration happened during Apple 2019 WWDC keynote, with Mojang employees initially working on a small Minecraft build set on a desk. This arrangement was nifty enough, with presenters demoing Minecraft’s recognizable construction components, and a range of additional features, while moving around the structure in real-time.
Things get a little bit magical, but when the construct is scaled up to the scale of the stage- massive. Considering that one Minecraft “block” is equivalent to one meter in real life, this was pretty much Minecraft in a life-size scale. Presenters could walk around the structure and be super-imposed into part of the scene. It’s not “gimmicky” but instead shows the possibility and potential of AR technology. There is definitely a huge appeal for builders in seeing their carefully designed creations coming into full-sized, explorable, interactive life.
Minecraft Earth is scheduled to launch in closed beta on iOS and Android after this summer, and people hoping to get in early may register their interest on the Minecraft site at this time.