Microsoft has released the first demonstration of how its augmented reality Minecraft Earth port of the enduring adventure sandbox game, Minecraft, will work. Shown off on stage at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2019), the game will let players look at the virtual world through their smartphone screens and collaboratively work with people on real-space projects within a generated Minecraft world.
This is one of those cases where it's easier to show you what it's like rather than tell it. Fair warning though, Apple is taking down videos of this left and right for some reason — gotta love copyright strikes on YouTube — so if the video below no longer works when you read this piece, head to Apple's official stream and skip to 02:01:00.
One exciting element of this version of Minecraft is how it can be scaled up and down. You can play from a zoomed out perspective on a tabletop, or step right into your Minecraft world and walk around it to experience it in a closer, first-person perspective, or build on a more intimate scale.
This becomes even more interesting when you factor in destructible floors and walls. We would see this even expand into the use of AR and VR headsets for even more immersive play across platforms.
Minecraft Earth is set to launch in beta on iOS and Android devices this summer.
