Minecraft Earth

Minecraft Earth is a free-to-play augmented reality (AR) mobile game developed by Mojang AB and published by Xbox Game Studios for iOS and Android. The game is about building structures and collecting materials by traveling to real-life locations.

Gameplay


In Minecraft Earth, players can build structures with other players and "place them in the real world at life-size".

In the map, players can see their character, which can be changed with the skins owned from the marketplace. Scattered around the maps are Tappables. If a Tappable is within a player's collection range, the player can tap it and collect items. There are multiple types of Tappables, including stone, grass, chests, and mobs.

Adventures also appear on the map. Adventures are the survival aspect of Minecraft Earth. Players can fight mobs and collect rewards.

This version of Minecraft features many unique gameplay aspects and interactions similar to the main game.

This is not a port of an existing game and is an adaption of Minecraft Bedrock Edition, and Minecraft: Java Edition. This version of the game is built on the Bedrock Engine.

This version of Minecraft utilizes Xbox Live.

The game uses Azure's new Azure Spatial Anchors along with Open Maps technology to help with the experience. This helps map out where certain objects should be along with pinning players' builds.

It has been announced that The End and The Nether are planned for Minecraft Earth in a future update.

Build plates
Build plates are worlds that players can use to build on. They can be shared, and worked on by invited individuals.

Build plates can vary from size, reaching up to 200 feet (60 metres). Using the shop, players can upgrade the size of their plot, or buy a new plot. Plots can also be earned via a leveling system.

Build plates can be 8×8, 16×16 or 32×32 blocks in size, and their build height limit is 221 blocks. From ground level, a build plate also extends 3 blocks downward. Bedrock appears after digging down 3 blocks.

Build plates function like personal realms, and can be used anywhere. They run in the Bedrock Engine, meaning redstone, physics, and other mechanics are identical. Players may invite friends to build with them locally and then share the world to others.

Once a build is complete, if the player wants to have a persistent hologram of their world pinned somewhere, it would need to be reviewed before its pinned. Mojang claims to have a 24/7 moderation team, reviewing and looking at reports.

People who are not invited can interact with the pinned world locally; once they leave said world everything is reset. Only invited individuals can change the real world and take resources from it, non invited players cannot collect resources.

Build plates can be seen through the world as pinned worlds, and can be opened to explore and interact with. To get their own, players must level up or purchase them through the store.

Build plates can also be shared via a link, so players don't need to be near the pin to see creations. The links shared can be temporary or never expiring.

Differences from regular Minecraft
Minecraft Earth offers somewhat different mechanics to players more familiar with Java or Bedrock editions of Minecraft. These differences include:
 * The game is basically two-dimensional; that is, while one can build upward and dig downward, a player cannot climb or descend unless a real-world structure is available for climbing and descending.
 * There is no day/night cycle. Players have their own real-world day or night, although built plates and adventures have daylight lighting.
 * Inventory:
 * Inventory is effectively unlimited, both in inventory slots and the stack size of items or blocks.
 * There is no inventory crafting grid, and no way to repair damaged items by combining them.
 * Mobs can be collected, and achievements earned for collecting them.
 * Inventory is retained upon death. Only items in the hotbar and any items collected during an adventure are lost.
 * Crafting and smelting take time, sometimes several minutes depending on the item. Like smelting in regular Minecraft, the player can exit the crafting or smelting interface to do other things while the process completes.
 * Tools and melee weapons have a longer reach. Range weapons are not normally needed.
 * Food can be cooked, but cannot be eaten.
 * Iron is rare, and never dropped by tappables. Iron ore can be obtained only via mining during an adventure.
 * There is currently no way to wear armor in the game. A player must use tactics rather than armor for protection.

Microtransactions
The game has been confirmed to have full microtransactions. The in game currency is Rubies, which is not to be confused with Minecoins.

Rubies can be used to:


 * Purchase build plots
 * Speed up crafting and smelting tasks

Development
During Microsoft Build 2015, Microsoft's HoloLens team unveiled an augmented reality version of Minecraft. . On May 6, 2019, Microsoft released a video on Youtube, where some features from Minecraft Earth were shown. On May 8, 2019, a trailer was released, showing some AR mods in Minecraft Earth. On Minecraft's 10th anniversary (May 17), Minecraft Earth was officially announced.

iOS
The closed beta for Minecraft Earth was launched for AR-compatible devices with iOS in the following cities:

Android
The closed beta for Minecraft Earth was launched for AR-compatible devices with Android in the first five cities the closed iOS beta was also launched in: London, Seattle, Stockholm, Tokyo, Mexico City.

Early access
Minecraft Earth was made available in early access in the following countries, listed by date and version of first release:

Global access
On December 11, 2019, Minecraft Earth was opened for global access with the release of version 0.8.0.

System requirements
According to the FAQ page: