Dev Diaries #2 discusses the technical and design sides of Minecraft Earth

Minecraft Earth
Minecraft Earth (Image credit: Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • Minecraft Earth is a mobile spin-off of Minecraft that uses augmented reality (AR) to bring Minecraft to life.
  • It's an ambitious game that has been overshadowed by aggressive microtransactions and lack of content early on.
  • Recently, developers from Mojang Studios have begun discussing the behind-the-scenes of Minecraft Earth.
  • The newest Dev Diary answers more questions about some of the technical and design decisions in Minecraft Earth.

It's been a while since we've talked about Minecraft Earth, but Mojang Studios is back with another Dev Diary that goes further into the "why" and "how" of Minecraft Earth. The mobile AR spin-off of Minecraft approaches things very differently than its bigger brother, out of necessity, leading to the team behind it coming up with creative solutions ot make the game fit better on our mobile devices, and in the real world.

The short video answers some questions like what's important for passive, neutral, and hostile mobs in Minecraft Earth, including hinting at big future changes related to mobs, as well as questions of scale, gameplay, and more. They also talk about the challenges of developing for AR on mobile devices, and how it differs from developing for Minecraft on any number of platforms, most of which are fully fledged gaming platforms.

If you're interested, you can check out the video above. If Minecraft Earth isn't the Minecraft you came here to find out more about, the Mountain Update might be the next major release for Minecraft, and we've compiled everything we know about it!

Zachary Boddy
Staff Writer

Zachary Boddy (They / Them) is a Staff Writer for Windows Central, primarily focused on covering the latest news in tech and gaming, the best Xbox and PC games, and the most interesting Windows and Xbox hardware. They have been gaming and writing for most of their life starting with the original Xbox, and started out as a freelancer for Windows Central and its sister sites in 2019. Now a full-fledged Staff Writer, Zachary has expanded from only writing about all things Minecraft to covering practically everything on which Windows Central is an expert, especially when it comes to Microsoft. You can find Zachary on Twitter @BoddyZachary.