Minecraft partners with Frozen Planet 2, launching engaging new worlds to help educate younger audiences
Viewers and players can immerse themselves in Frozen Planet 2 with five Minecraft worlds inspired by each episode in the series.
With the launch of Frozen Planet 2, narrated by the one and only David Attenborough, BBC Earth has partnered with Minecraft to bring different audiences together. Following the release of each episode, which will air weekly, Minecraft Education has created five Frozen Planet 2-inspired worlds for Minecraft fans to try out.
Each Minecraft world is inspired by the Frozen Planet 2 episode before it, featuring immersive landscapes and game-based learning resources so that younger audiences can get more involved with the landmark series.
As one of the best-selling games of all time, with significant popularity across younger audiences, Minecraft also has a lesser-known Education Edition which is specifically aimed at providing educational content. This content is intended to help students learn about a variety of subjects via gameplay, and the team at Mojang Studios believes it is responsible for using Minecraft to create a better world.
That said, Frozen Planet 2 will be available in Minecraft Education Edition, with over 26 available languages and additional lesson plans for teachers to educate students about our frozen worlds globally, and climate change. For those who want to experience the Frozen Planet 2 worlds outside of their school curriculum, the builds will be made available to Minecraft Bedrock Edition for free, via the Minecraft Marketplace.
As for what the builds entail, players can expect to experience the frozen worlds from BBC Earth’s latest series; but they won’t just be exploring the various environments and hitting blocks. Instead, players will be able to explore the builds from the perspective of an animal for the first time ever. This could be a penguin or a polar bear, witnessing life from their personal lens, or players can have their own go at being a film-making researcher.
Each build will have different educational challenges to solve, lasting no longer than 10-15 minutes at a time. As well as educating those who experience the builds, they are intended to unite younger and older generations watching the show, and to trigger important conversations about the topics addressed each week.
Frozen Planet 2’s series producer, Elizabeth White, shares that, “One of the great things about the natural world is its power to engage and enthral viewers young and old. We are delighted to partner with Minecraft on this range of educational computer games which will enable children to interact with stories inspired by the series through gameplay, and learn more about the challenges of these habitats through the additional lesson content”.
The first episode of Frozen Planet 2 aired on Sunday 11 September at 8pm BST. You can catch the trailer for the show here, and episodes will continue to air weekly, with the new Minecraft frozen worlds being added to Minecraft Education Edition and the Minecraft Marketplace from September 21 onwards.