‘Minecraft Earth’ release date: Solo play may be too difficult for players oppose to collaborating with other people

“Minecraft Earth” is looking to be the next big thing in the world of Augmented Reality gaming. Taking inspiration from “Pokémon: Go” and expanding it further, the game will have players build megastructures which they can show off and display in the real world.

The developers of “Minecraft Earth” have placed heavy emphasis on collaborative work as playing solo will be harder on account that harvesting materials are quite the chore. Microsoft’s HoloLens and Kinect creator Alex Kipman said that they’re aiming to encourage people to go outside and express their creativity where people can behold what they’ve built.

"'Minecraft Earth proposes to completely break the dogma that has lived with us in computing since the beginning: this idea of a single person that holds a single device to create a single experience. With 'Minecraft Earth,' that’s no longer the case," Kipman said.

Minecraft Earth to use Azure Spatial Anchors technology

To achieve such lofty goals, Microsoft is using its Azure Spatial Anchors technology for “Minecraft Earth” to act as foundations. This will allow the company to know the exact location of a certain play spot, accurately display whatever structure a group has created, and anchor that to a specific object in the real world, The Verge reported. Which brings us to our next point.

In lieu of Pokestops, “Minecraft Earth” will have what Microsoft is calling “tapables.” These areas will be scattered across the world and will provide players the resources they need to build whatever projects they have in mind. While two will be placed nearby, others will be located in different locations, and players will have to travel around to collect materials needed for a particular structure.

Microsoft carefully choosing locations for Minecraft Earth tapables

Microsoft is carefully considering the places that these tapables will appear as the company is trying to avoid complaints from people that may not be too thrilled that their house has been turned into these gathering areas. Niantic actually settled several lawsuits with multiple homeowners due to this very issue., Gamesindustry.biz reported. Thus, expect “Minecraft Earth” tapables to appear in public spaces, most likely in parks and playgrounds.

As for when the game will come out, Microsoft has yet to provide a specific date. All that’s been revealed so far is that “Minecraft Earth” will arrive sometime in the summer.