Canceled Minecraft Competitor Hytale Isn’t Canceled After All

In June, Hypixel and its parent company Riot Games announced that the Minecraft-inspired adventure game Hightail was canceled after 10 years of development. At that time, Hypixel was also about to close. But now the founders of Hypixel have saved the studio, planning to finally bring Hytale into early access.

Hypixel co-founder Simon Collins-Laflamme took to social media to announce that his studio has bought the rights to Hytale from Riot Games and plans to release it as soon as possible. However, he warned fans to temper their expectations as the game remains unfinished. While Collins-Laflamme acknowledged that “there is a lot of work to be done,” he added that “we won’t have to wait any longer. You'll be able to play it, despite the rough edges and all. She won't be perfect from day one. I hope that together we can turn it into something truly special.”

In a long post on Official Hytale websiteCollins-Laflamme noted that he and his Hypixel co-founder Philippe Touchette are co-funding the revived Hytale, with Kevin Carstens serving as technical lead and Patrick Derbic as head of operations. They also announced that 30 developers who previously worked on Hytale have been hired to return.

Collins-Laflamme also said that the team is abandoning the current cross-engine version of Hytale because it is “significantly behind in terms of gameplay” and will take years to reach Early Access. Instead, the team is returning to a build of The Legacy Engine that is now four years old and has made significant progress.

Early Access is expected to “last at least a few years” as the team doesn't want to rush development. Exploration Mode, Creative Mode, and Modding will be available when Early Access launches. However, the mini-games and adventure mode will be saved for a later date. Hypixel's founders added that they are committed to funding this project for 10 years and are completely independent, with no outside investors or publishers.