Hypixel founder Simon Collins-Laflamme has announced the acquisition of the rights to Hytale, the studio’s original game development project, from Riot Games. Hytale is a sandbox RPG which, much like Minecraft, features building, combat, and exploration of a blocky procedurally-generated world, alongside capabilities for modding, custom content, and private or public servers. Having already been in development for ten years, its release has been much anticipated by the Minecraft community.
The news comes after the announcement of the end of the development of Hytale back in June. “After years of pushing forward, adapting, and exploring every possible path, it became clear we couldn’t bring Hytale to life in a way that truly delivered on its promise,” the original announcement by Hypixel CEO Noxy read – but now, after months of negotiations and work behind the scenes, things are looking up for Hytale.
“While it didn’t make sense for [Riot] to continue developing it in its existing form, they ultimately wanted what’s best for players, and that’s for us to eventually play a revised version of the game,” Simon wrote in a blog post on the Hytale website. “We are grateful to Riot Games for making this possible.”
Over thirty Hytale developers have been rehired to work on the project again. “Together, we are going back to the original vision for Hytale,” Simon wrote. “We are fully independent and personally committed to funding Hytale for the next ten years. Transactions like this are rare in the games industry. Thank you to everyone for keeping hope alive.”
The game will first be released into early access, where it is expected to stay for at least a few years, with the date and price to be announced in the coming days.
“Real talk: Hytale isn’t some polished AAA release waiting in the wings,” Simon continued in a post on X. “It’s messy. It’s janky. And there’s a lot of work to be done. My plan? Get it out to you as soon as possible. No more waiting. You’ll get to play it, rough edges and all. It won’t be perfect on day one. My hope is that together, we’ll shape it into something truly special.”
You can stay up to date with news about the game by following @Hytale on X.
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