The coronavirus ended their semester early, but MIT being MIT, students knew they could figure out some kind of technical workaround.
A group of MIT students built a server in “Minecraft,” where they’ve been building the campus in stunning detail, working on recreating places that are especially meaningful to them. The project follows other schools like UPenn and Brown, who have similar virtual campuses in the works.
The block-building game “Minecraft,” which Microsoft bought in 2014 for $2.5 billion, has been one of the most popular games worldwide over the last 10 years. As of September, it had a staggering 112 million active players every month, a number that has reportedly grown to 145 million.
Colleges and universities across the US have sent students home and turned to remote learning for the rest of the semester. Some schools made the switch after a student tested positive for COVID-19, the coronavirus disease, while others did it preemptively. Now, many schools are considering the safety of a fall 2020 return to campus.
With the future uncertain, the “Minecraft” version of MIT is a place for students to gather and a way to pass time. Here’s what it looks like.
