Minecraft has been one continual success story since its launch in 2009, with Microsoft buying the IP and developer Mojang in 2014. Recent years have seen the sandbox videogame come to virtual reality (VR) headsets like Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR. Now it looks like Minecraft is making the leap to augmented reality (AR), with Microsoft releasing a teasing video during its Build conference this week.
The video features Minecraft creative director Saxs Persson sat on a bench. He gets up and as he leaves picks up the wrong phone. The woman sat next to him realises his mistake and gets up to let him know, looking down at the phone to see an AR version of Minecraft running. On the screen is a pig wallowing in the mud, with icons at the bottom for a players sword, bow, food, blocks and other items.
As the video comes to an end it states to tune into Minecraft.net on 17th May, when further information will be released – it also happens to be the videogames’ 10th anniversary.
There’s not much else to go on in terms of gameplay, whether players will be wandering the streets building weird and wonderful structures together or possibly going on quests to fight cubed shaped monsters. Obviously, there will be instant comparisons to Pokemon Go, probably the most popular and well-known AR title.
Minecraft fans will also want to know about cross-platform support, and whether the AR version will allow interaction with players on PC, console or in VR, rather than being a standalone experience.
When it comes to AR Microsoft has been more concerned with its enterprise-focused HoloLens headset. HoloLens 2 was revealed earlier this year during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) event. More recently a HoloLens 2 Development Edition was revealed including a 3-month trial version of Unity Pro for studios.
Check out the teaser trailer below, and when further details are released VRFocus will let you know.
via Mint VR