Minecraft is one of the most popular games out there even though it’s nearly a decade old. However, word has started to circulate that Minecraft is shutting down in 2021, emanating from some bad news posted by developer Mojang. So will the survival game be shut down this year?
Is Minecraft getting shut down?
No, Minecraft is not shutting down in 2021. Mojang continues to work on the game, with its upcoming Caves and Cliffs update — not to mention its continued bank-busting success — evidence of it having plenty of life left in it.
So where did the rumor that Minecraft was being shut down come from? Earlier this year, it was announced that the mobile-only Minecraft Earth’s servers were being taken offline. Released in 2019, the iOS and Android game used augmented reality similar to Pokemon Go, though it failed to gain a significant audience. Mojang revealed that it would receive one final update before it would end support completely in June 2021.
This announcement has inevitably sparked some concern, with some players confusing Minecraft Earth with regular Minecraft. Fortunately, while the former is being shut down, the latter will remain alive and well for the foreseeable future across all devices.
It’s not difficult to see why Minecraft will keep going, either. In 2020, Mojang revealed that the game had surpassed 200 million units sold, with it continuing to be the best-selling video game ever by a considerable stretch. GTA 5 is the closest contender to the crafting game’s throne, though with 140 million copies sold, it’s still a way behind.
Mojang recently unveiled Minecraft’s latest snapshot, adding a Lush Caves biome to its world that would offer players more underground variety. The game also received a brand new update that made its Nether even creepier, with the 2.21 patch introducing more ambient sounds to the title.
