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Mojang demos Minecraft Earth AR app live on WWDC 2019 stage

Mojang took its Minecraft Earth AR app to Apple's WWDC 2019 presentation to showcase the game in front of a live audience.

Brittany Vincent

June 3, 2019 2:10 PM

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No Apple showcase would be complete without giving users a taste of new AR games, and the latest keynote presentation was no exception. Showing off the absolute newest in AR gaming, the folks at Mojang appeared for a live trial demonstration of the studio's new AR-based title Minecraft Earth.

Minecraft fans will understand the new game's appeal immediately: Earth is a living, breathing Minecraft world presented in augmented reality. For those who don't yet understand the allure, Minecraft Earth is a way to leverage the power of devices like the iPhone to be immersed in a fully-customizable digital world, either all by yourself or with your friends.

Minecraft Earth has been in development under the leadership of Microsoft (who purchased Mojang back in September of 2014) for quite some time, but gamers have only come to learn about it recently. It seems that Mojang has been working on a new foray into the AR market that could possibly give Pokemon Go a run for its money, and the developers saved the gameplay reveal for the Apple WWDC keynote. Check out the full clip in the video embed featured above.

It's already very, very easy to get sucked into Minecraft, from building a small home to entire networks of machines. Being able to walk around in and manipulate a voxel-based world is perhaps the most interesting and ambitious use of AR technology we've seen yet. Of course, it's backed by the power of Apple's AR Kit, which can notably be seen by the demo's use of occlusion — projecting the virtual world behind real-world objects.

Beyond the scope of Minecraft Earth, there are loads of other news and reveals from the latest Apple WWDC keynote presentation, including the announcement of a new Mac Pro. Find all the highlights over at Shacknews' WWDC 2019 home page.

Brittany Vincent

Senior Editor

Fueled by horror, rainbow-sugar-pixel-rushes, and video games, Brittany is a Senior Editor at Shacknews who thrives on surrealism and ultraviolence. Follow her on Twitter @MolotovCupcake and check out her portfolio for more. Like a fabulous shooter once said, get psyched!