It’s almost time to say goodbye to Minecraft Earth, because Mojang Studios is shutting it down forever on June 30th. Not everything is doom and gloom, however. If you spent money on the Pokémon Go-like sandbox app, you can pick up some goodbye gifts before it goes to the big phone in the sky. That is: some free money for the Minecraft Marketplace and a free copy of the Minecraft Bedrock edition.
“Minecraft Earth was designed around free movement and collaborative play – two things that have become almost impossible in the current global situation,” say the developers. “As a result, we made the difficult decision to reallocate our resources to other areas that provide value to the Minecraft community and to end support for Minecraft Earth.”
The game received its final update yesterday, removing microtransactions and adding all finalized but not released content for players to try. They also reduced the time needed to complete tasks like creation and reduced the prices of in-game items to make it a little easier to play.
Players who have spent money in real life on rubies, the game’s premium currency, will receive Minecoins to spend on the Minecraft Marketplace (where you can buy skins and adventures made by players). Then, players who spent some money on the app will receive a copy of the Minecraft Bedrock edition for their mobile devices – which is cool because Minecraft has cross-platform progression, so you can take your PC savings with you on the go.
Minecraft Earth was released in late 2019, so it will have managed about a year and a half of life when it ends in June. Unfortunately, that year turned out to be a bit bad for a game that encourages going out to meet your friends.
Therefore, as of July 1, you will no longer be able to download or play it, and Mojang will delete all player data from Minecraft Earth. Take a look at the Minecraft Earth Sunset FAQs for more details.
For those of you who are experiencing a little Minecraft Bedrock thanks to the freebie, here are some of the best Minecraft Bedrock seeds to explore.