Minecraft Earth
It entered the real world as Early Access, then vanished before a full release.
Quick facts
- Existence state
- Limited Appearance
- Peak stage
- limited public access
- Research confidence
- high
- Last verified
What it was
Mojang’s augmented-reality mobile game, placing Minecraft creations in physical locations.
People downloaded, built and explored it, but the product always carried the Early Access label. It crossed into public experience without reaching stable, general release.
Existence timeline
Microsoft reveals an augmented-reality Minecraft experience.
Invited players begin testing in selected cities.
The public rollout starts country by country.
The game becomes accessible across many markets.
Mojang publishes a final update and end-of-service plan.
Minecraft Earth becomes unavailable.
Why it ended
Mojang said global conditions had undermined a game built around free movement and shared play, and ended support in June 2021.
Last confirmed trace
The shutdown announcement, final build and player recordings preserve this short public experiment.
What it left behind
It shows how location-based games can be vulnerable to conditions outside software—and how a public beta can still leave a genuine community behind.
How we classified it
The public could download and play the project only while Mojang continued to label it Early Access; it never graduated to a full release.
Country-by-country Early Access is the 98-point limited-public-access stage.
Sources & verification
Last reviewed 2026-08-01. Sources are linked so readers can inspect the evidence directly.