It's been a long wait, but cross-play is finally coming to the PlayStation 4 version of Minecraft. Microsoft says that tomorrow, the PlayStation 4 Edition of Minecraft will begin updating to the Bedrock Edition, and once that update is complete, those on PS4 will be able to play with friends on other platforms.
Today the game Minecraft Earth was released in "early access" mode for the United States. This game uses GPS location information and allows users the ability to play a version of Minecraft wherever they may roam. Augmented reality and item searching show the game to be in a vein very similar to that of Pokemon GO, and it's ready to roll now in the USA.
The success of Pokemon GO opened up a new mobile gaming market that many want to cash in on. But as the reception of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite proved, not even developer Niantic Labs itself is always able to replicate that success. Many have tried to use that same collection and location-based formula and almost all have failed. Microsoft-owned Mojang is now also trying to get its and your feet wet with Minecraft Earth and it is now making its unique spin available in nine more locations around the world.
Augmented reality game Minecraft Earth will arrive in early access starting next month, Mojang has announced. Microsoft plans to roll out the early access version of the AR game in 'select countries' to start with, the company revealed on Saturday, enabling some fans to bring their creations to the real world. This is a progression from the game's current beta testing period.
Mojang has released Minecraft Beta 1.13.0.15 for Android, Xbox One, and Windows 10. As with past beta releases, the latest version brings new features not yet available in the regular versions of the game, the most notable addition being Minecraft Character Creator. With this tool, players can personalize their game avatar by adjusting its body shape, limbs, facial features, skin tones, and much more.
These days, Fortnite tends to dominate discussions about the most popular games around, but even it has some competition in that space. As Fortnite has enjoyed its meteoric rise, Minecraft has been silently amassing even more players, and now - not long after the game celebrated its 10th birthday - its player base is truly massive.
Minecraft Earth is an augmented reality-heavy game for mobile devices that also uses GPS location (with OpenStreetMap) to plot the world. This game's launch worked with Android and iOS devices, and gameplay centers on building with pixelated aesthetic blocks - much like the original Minecraft games on multiple gaming platforms. Here're exploring just a bit about the Beta version of the game as it exists today.
Mojang has released Minecraft: Java Edition update 19W34A, bringing a new type of 'bug' to the game: bees. These bees are 'cute, fuzzy, neutral mobs,' according to the company, which warns that players should avoid hurting the critters because, though they're not interested in attacking, they do have stingers. This edition of the game has also received beehives and more.
It probably should be much of a surprise that there's a lot of interest about Minecraft Earth. Not only did Pokemon GO prove that there's definitely a market for augmented reality games, but Minecraft Earth is able to leverage the best selling video game of all time. While the closed beta for Minecraft Earth launched a few weeks ago, it's only been available for iOS thus far, leaving Android players out in the cold.
At the moment, NVIDIA is all about ray tracing, and while we expect many new and upcoming AAA games to support the feature, soon a game you wouldn't necessarily expect will be getting it too. NVIDIA has announced that Minecraft, the best-selling game in the world, is getting support for real-time ray tracing, making it one of the most unique titles to take advantage of NVIDIA's RTX cards.
Niantic Labs' third smartphone-based AR game didn't exactly bring in as many players or revenue as Pokemon GO but the Harry Potter franchise still has enough fans to get the game by at least by word of mouth. That could be giving developers at Microsoft-owned Mojang some anxiety over their own still upcoming title. To whet Minecraft fans' appetite and, at the same time, publicize the game, Microsoft is dropping a few more tidbits about how Minecraft Earth will play out once the the Closed Beta rolls out next month.
Earlier this month, Mojang informed us that the various episodes that comprise Telltale's Minecraft: Story Mode were living on borrowed time. On June 25th, the company said, all Story Mode episodes will be removed from digital storefronts, which means no more downloading them and certainly no more purchasing them. With the date decided, Microsoft and Mojang urged everyone to download whatever they wanted to keep before the 25th rolls around and these games disappear for good.