Microsoft just teased an AR Minecraft game for phones
Move over, Pokemon Go: Minecraft AR debuts May 17
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WhileMicrosoftspent most of the day focusing on enterprise solutions, including a way toprotect elections from malicious software, it ended the Build 2019 keynote with a surprise announcement for a new augmented reality (AR) Minecraft experience coming to smartphones.
The still-unnamed app was shown off through a teaser trailer displayed at the end of the keynote, alongside a date – May 17 – which Microsoft says will be the time that it will reveal more information.
While the teaser is more a proof-of-concept than an actual product demonstration, it gives us a slight idea of what’s to come: an AR-basedMinecraftgame that looks, in some ways, likePokémon GoandHarry Potter: Wizards Unite.
The teaser trailer shown at the end of the keynote showed someone accidentally switching phones with Minecraft Creative Director Saxs Persson before noticing an AR version of the game’s iconic pink pig and two of the game’s villager characters who shake their head in disapproval.
Along the bottom part of the screen we can see the item bar that has been apart of the game’s UI since the very beginning, which could point to a building aspect. Though, we’ll have to wait until the game’s formal announcement in a few weeks to confirm our suspicions.
Congrats on 10 years, Minecraft
Admittedly, the timing of the game’s unveiling on May 17 couldn’t be more impeccable: it’s exactly 10 years to the day that the game first launched.
The 10-year anniversary is a good time as any to show off what’s next for one of the world’s most popular video games, especially as it sounds like the previous AR demo – the one shown off alongsideMicrosoft HoloLens– was merely a product demonstration.
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That said, considering everybody owns a smartphone and very few of us own a HoloLens, this is probably the better direction for the game.
Nick Pino is Managing Editor, TV and AV for TechRadar’s sister site, Tom’s Guide. Previously, he was the Senior Editor of Home Entertainment at TechRadar, covering TVs, headphones, speakers, video games, VR and streaming devices. He’s also written for GamesRadar+, Official Xbox Magazine, PC Gamer and other outlets over the last decade, and he has a degree in computer science he’s not using if anyone wants it.
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