‘Minecraft Earth’ Wants To Be The ‘Pokemon Go’ Of Building Apps On Your Phone


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Minecraft is Microsoft now, and a game that’s as wildly popular is only going to get bigger. We’ve seen the series expand with Story Mode and there’s been talk of a Telltale Minecraft game that was to feature some Netflix integration. That game, unfortunately, doesn’t appear to be coming with Telltale’s demise, but a new Minecraft game for mobile users looks extremely intriguing.

Microsoft announced on Friday that Minecraft Earth is coming to mobile phones and it looks like Microsoft is trying to build a Pokemon Go for building games. The company announced a beta for a mobile game coming to Android and iOS devices that promises to use real-world settings to build, well, whatever you want through the use of AR.

A video previewing what’s to come with the mobile game is, quite frankly, pretty exciting.

The video is a pretty cool concept, with a young girl exploring her new neighborhood through the lens of the game. Endermen stand next to her at crosswalks, and she sees emeralds to mine in darn corridors and other people building things at coffee shops. It’s very similar to the first preview video of Pokemon Go, which wowed people hoping to have VR Pokemon battles with friends.

Those features, though much less immersive and visually stunning, did eventually come. But a closed beta later this summer will give us our first real look at what a real-life Minecraft game will look like. Microsoft promised the game will be free to play and won’t have “loot boxes,” which is a good sign, though it seems like it will be of the freemium variety. You can sign up for a chance at the beta on Minecraft’s website.

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