Minecraft Earth early access arrives in New Zealand and Iceland, coming to other countries soon

What you need to know

Minecraft Earth is currently in open beta testing.
This early access is rolling out across different countries at different times.
Players in New Zealand and Iceland can now play Minecraft Earth in early access.
Other countries will be announced in the future.

Earlier this year, we reported that Minecraft Earth open beta would begin rolling out in October, with different countries getting access as the open beta was expanded. Today, an announcement from the Minecraft Earth team on Twitter confirmed that the open beta is now available in two new countries, New Zealand and Iceland. This kicks off the open beta access period that was discussed at Minecon 2019.

Minecraft Earth is here! Starting today, we will begin to roll out early access from country to country, starting with: 🇳🇿 New Zealand 🇮🇸 Iceland Not a citizen of either land? Stay tuned as we announce the next countries soon!

↣ https://t.co/8qME5ZSuAE ↢ pic.twitter.com/t01ro9wwlmMinecraft Earth is here! Starting today, we will begin to roll out early access from country to country, starting with: 🇳🇿 New Zealand 🇮🇸 Iceland Not a citizen of either land? Stay tuned as we announce the next countries soon!

↣ https://t.co/8qME5ZSuAE ↢ pic.twitter.com/t01ro9wwlm— Minecraft Earth (@minecraftearth) October 17, 2019 October 17, 2019

Other countries are coming soon, so if you aren't able to play Minecraft Earth yet, don't panic. The intention right now per Mojang is for Minecraft Earth to be available everywhere (except for China) by the end of 2019. Getting the game available in China will probably happen but will take additional time. The closed beta for this ambitious game began entailed the UK, U.S., Sweden, Japan, and Mexico. You can sign up for Minecraft Earth early access right over here.

The closed beta was fairly limited, with players only able to tap blocks around the world map. With the open beta going out, more and more classic features that fans enjoy in Minecraft will be available, such using different tools like picks and axes. This will also bring the addition of Adventures. Adventures are big events in Minecraft Earth that will have players fighting off skeletons, digging down for diamonds and more. You can read more about Adventures here.

Samuel Tolbert is a freelance gaming writer who started working for iMore and its sister sites Windows Central and Android Central in July 2019. He handles news, previews, reviews, and exclusive original reporting, and has also been featured on TechRadar.

With a background studying engineering before he shifted his focus to gaming journalism, he's skilled at identifying technical advantages and disadvantages provided by different hardware. If he’s not writing something, he’s off playing video games, spending time with his pets, exercising, or reading. He's also fond of trying to draw things with his iPad.