Canceled Minecraft rival Hytale isn't canceled after all

In June, Hypixel and its parent company Riot Games announced that the Minecraft-inspired adventure game Hytale is canceled After 10 years of development. At that time, Hypixel will also be shut down. But now, Hypixel's founder has rescued the studio and plans to eventually bring Hytale into early access.

Hypixel co-founder Simon Collins-Laflamme announced on social media that his studio has bought back 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 is not yet complete. While Collins-LaFram acknowledged that “there's still a lot of work to be done,” he added, “There's no waiting anymore. You get to play with it, despite the rough edges and all. It's not going to be perfect on day one. My hope is that, together, we shape it into something really special.”

in a long article Hytale official websiteCollins-Laflamme noted that he and Hypixel co-founder Philippe Touchette are co-funding the resurrected Hytale, with Kevin Carstens serving as technical lead and Patrick Derbic serving as management lead. They also announced that they have hired 30 developers who previously worked at Hytale to return.

Collins-Laflamme also revealed that the team is abandoning Hytale's current cross-platform version of the engine because it “is significantly lagging behind in terms of gameplay” and will take years to reach Early Access. Instead, the team is reviving an older version of the engine, which is four years old and has moved forward a lot.

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, mini-games and adventure modes will be saved for later use. The Hypixel founders added that they are committed to funding the project for 10 years and are completely independent with no outside investors or publishers.