So, here's your prescribed dose of good gaming industry news for this week. Hightail back from the dead! Despite a decade of development, the game was mothballed when Hypixel Studios was forced to close down completely. Hypixel founder Simon Collins-Laflamme said he wanted to talk to the previous owner of Riot about reacquiring Hytale.and as it turns out, that's exactly what he did!
“Today begins an exciting new chapter of Hytale,” begins blog post from the Hytale team. “We are pleased to announce that we have acquired Hytale from Riot Games. While it didn't make sense for them to continue developing the game in its existing form, they ultimately wanted what was best for players, which was for us to end up playing a patched version of the game. We are grateful to Riot Games for making this possible.”
The good news continues here: Apparently, more than 30 developers “who know this game inside and out” have been rehired, “with additional revenues expected in the coming days. Together we are returning to the original vision of Hytale. We are fully independent and personally committed to funding Hytale for the next 10 years.” Damn, isn't this nice to read for once?
The said blog post also outlines a few behind-the-scenes details. First, the game has switched back to the Legacy Engine it was previously built on, the game is now playable, and the post explains that it “allows us to build the game, not the engine. This is a version that feels like what Hytale should have been.”
In the coming days, the early access date will obviously be announced, and with it the prices. While laying out some expectations, the post notes that early access will take at least a few years and that at launch the game will only have an exploration mode, creative mode, and modding – no mini-games or an adventure mode, but both of those are still planned. Good luck with everything, Hytale team!
