Mojang has announced the release of Minecraft for Gear VR-compatible Samsung smartphones. Minecraft: Gear VR Edition is available now from the Oculus store – compatible with the Samsung Galaxy S7, S7 Edge, Note 5, S6, and S6 Edge models, plus a Gear VR headset, which is powered by Oculus – priced $6.99.
While the Gear VR Edition is not the same as the virtual reality version for Oculus that is currently in development, this light version – based on the Pocket Edition of the game – should serve as an effective bridge in the meantime.
“Our virtual reality edition of Minecraft for the Oculus Rift is still on its way, but to make things simple, we’ve released a separate version on the Oculus Store just for use with the Gear VR,” the Mojang blog reads. “It has all the features of Pocket Edition, costs the same and has cross-platform play with regular Pocket and Windows 10 editions. You’ll need a compatible Bluetooth controller too.”
“Minecraft is a game that you can both figuratively and literally lose yourself in,” says Oculus CTO John Carmack. “In fact, my strongest memories of being inside VR are from the time I’ve spent exploring Minecraft on Gear VR.”
“Experiencing it in virtual reality changes it from an abstract activity to a visceral one – it goes from a sense of playing the game to one of being inside your world, and spinning around to find a creeper sneaking up on you leaves a powerful impression,” he adds. “Infinite worlds have been explored, shaped, and shared by millions of people, and now in VR; that sounds a bit like the fabled Metaverse.”
