Hytale is an upcoming sandbox game by Hypixel Studios. Development began in 2015 by developers from the Minecraft multiplayer server Hypixel with funding from Riot Games. Riot would purchase the studio outright in 2020. The game was canceled by Riot in June 2025,[1] before being revived on 17 November 2025 by its original founder, Simon "hypixel" Collins-Laflamme, who had repurchased the game from Riot Games and recommenced development.
It is initially planned for release on Microsoft Windows, with macOS and Linux support to "be attempted" after launch, and other platforms much later.[2] The standard version of the game will be priced at $19.99; two other editions ("Supporter" and "Cursebreaker, founder's edition") will also be available ($34.99 and $69.99 respectively), containing in-game cosmetics at an additional cost.[3][4]
Gameplay
Hytale will feature a fantasy world composed of procedurally-generated blocks of numerous shapes arranged in a three-dimensional grid, featuring different biomes, creatures, and dungeons.[5] Players will be able to participate in minigames similar to those found on the Hypixel server and able to build and share mods and custom content using a set of browser-based and in-game tools.[6][7]
Hytale will feature several procedurally-generated areas of the world known as "zones" made up of many biomes and mobs.[8] This mode is planned to have RPG-styled combat with dungeon exploration and dynamic boss encounters. Hytale will have featured block-based construction and include many different world editing and cinematic tools players can use in-game.[8] It is also planned to feature a scripting system that would allow players to write code in-game, as well as a modeling and animation toolkit based on CraftStudio which will be used to create custom assets.[6] The game is planned to feature both official and community-run servers.[6]
As of 17 November, 2025, the studio was re-acquired by Simon Collins-Laflamme, without confirmation regarding whether or not existing plans would be continued upon release of the game. According to their recent blog post, content at launch will feature Exploration and Creative modes as well as modding support.[2]
Development
Development of Hytale began in early 2015.[9] The game was being developed by Hypixel Studios for PC, consoles, and mobile devices.[5][10][11] The client was initially developed in C# with the server technology in Java,[12] but both the client and server were rewritten in C++ in 2022.[13] The game was being directed by Aaron "Noxy" Donaghey of Hypixel Studios, a Canadian-Irish indie game studio of over forty employees who split off from Hypixel Inc., the company behind the Hypixel server in Minecraft.[14][15][16] The idea for Hytale arose due to EULA changes by Mojang in 2014 which blocked servers from having micro-transactions that affected gameplay, leading to an 85% drop in the Hypixel server's revenue.[5][17][18] They originally wanted to avoid making a voxel-based game, but eventually decided to do so as they had experience in that genre from the Hypixel server in Minecraft.[5]
Hypixel Studios was at first self-financed with revenue generated by the Hypixel server. The studio subsequently received support from Riot Games, which invested several million dollars in the studio,[19][20][21][22] along with an advisory group that included businessmen Dennis Fong, Rob Pardo, and Peter Levine.[19] The studio was fully acquired by Riot Games in April 2020.[23]Hytale was announced in December 2018, with the trailer amassing over 31 million views within a month.[24]
The game, originally intended to be playable in 2021, was delayed several times due to the game's scope increasing.[13][25] In July 2024, Hytale's developers reported that the game was being migrated to a new engine, a process that was expected to be complete by the end of the year.[26] On June 23, 2025, after over 10 years of development, Donaghey announced its cancellation and closure of Hypixel Studios, citing the game's overly ambitious nature.[1]
Soon after the cancellation on 13 August 2025, Simon Collins-Laflamme, the original founder of Hytale and Hypixel Studios, made an announcement that they were in active negotiations to acquire Hytale from Riot Games.[27] Soon after, Collins-Laflamme made it clear that he would share any information he could throughout the process.[28]
In October 2025, multiple changes occurred to Hypixel Studios. On 6 October 2025, Hypixel Studios' address had been moved from its original location to a lawyer firm business.[29] In addition, the domain had also been transferred to an individual with their information on ICANN redacted for privacy.[30]
On November 17, 2025, Collins-Laflamme confirmed he had reacquired the intellectual property rights for Hytale on Twitter.[31] The game was publicly re-announced, with the return of the original Hytale site. On it, a new article was published, titled "HYTALE IS SAVED!" with Collins-Laflamme confirming 30 developers had been re-hired with plans to continue re-hiring.[32] A 16-minute long video of "raw" legacy engine gameplay would later be released to YouTube on November 18. Though the newer engine is no longer being used, cross-platform support is still planned for the legacy engine.[33] Hytale is set to enter early access "as soon as possible".[34]
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