Cancelled by Riot — Hytale’s creator revives the game fans thought was dead

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Hytale is an adventure game with sandbox elements, often compared to Minecraft. It combines the freedom of building like Minecraft with the exciting exploration, dungeons, and boss battles found in role-playing games. A key focus of Hytale is letting players create and share content, similar to how Roblox empowers its community with modding tools and features.

Hytale started as a project by the creators of Hypixel, the leading Minecraft server. The game was first revealed in 2018 with a trailer that quickly became incredibly popular online. That initial trailer gained 31 million views within just one month, and has now been viewed over 61 million times.

I remember when Riot Games bought the studio back in 2020, and they started aiming for something much bigger with the game. The team worked hard to remake Hytale so it could be played on lots of different devices, but things got slow going, and eventually, in June 2025, they officially stopped development. It seemed like that would be it, but the people who originally created the game weren’t ready to give up just yet.

How Hytale was brought back and what the revival includes

Simon Collins Laflamme, the original creator of Hytale, and his co-founder Philippe Touchette recently offered to repurchase Hytale and Hypixel Studios from Riot Games, hoping to reignite development on the game.

Riot Games has fully reacquired Hytale and is working with Simon to ensure a smooth transition. Simon expressed his gratitude to Riot on X (formerly Twitter) for their help during the process.

I’m incredibly grateful to Riot for their collaboration in making this possible. Their priority, like mine, has always been getting the game into players’ hands. This game means a lot to me personally, and I’m thrilled to be bringing it back. To be honest, Hytale isn’t a fully finished, top-tier game just yet… but we’re aiming for a release date of November 17, 2025.

As we move forward, we’ve decided to stop working on the new, cross-platform engine. Instead, we’re going back to our original engine, which was built using C# and Java. This will help us get a playable version of the game out to players much faster. Initially, we’ll be releasing the game on PC, but we haven’t ruled out bringing it to other platforms later on.

We’re starting with a release on Windows PCs. The team plans to add support for Mac and Linux computers later on, and consoles are a possibility even further in the future. The initial early access version will focus on two key game modes.

Exploration mode lets players roam a living world full of creatures and points of interest.

Creative mode lets players build anything they imagine, much like the creative tools in Minecraft. Plus, the game will immediately support modifications, or ‘mods,’ reflecting our commitment to being a creator-focused platform.

Okay, so here’s the deal: the game won’t have *everything* right away. It’s launching in early access, which means we’re getting our hands on it sooner rather than later, but things like official minigames and a full-blown adventure mode won’t be available on day one. They’re planning to add those later, but they want to get the core game out for us to start playing with first.

Key insights from an interview with Hytale’s creator

Simon recently told AntVenom on YouTube why he sold Hytale back in 2020. He explained that he’d used up his own funds for development and didn’t want to accept money from players until they had a clear vision for the game and its core technology.

After the game’s trailer became popular on YouTube, multiple companies expressed interest in acquiring it. He ultimately chose Riot Games because he believed they were best equipped to develop the project, and he didn’t feel confident in leading it himself.

On returning to the original vision, Simon said:

Revisiting our initial plan means using an early version of the game – one from four years ago – and the same technology we showcased in the trailer. This early version wasn’t ready for release, so we have significant work ahead of us to polish it and fix any issues.

Simon Collins Laflamme

He also addressed longtime fans, letting them know the game will launch with some issues. He explained there will likely be bugs, some features won’t be ready immediately, and it will generally feel like an early, unfinished version.

Right now, our main goal is to release an early access version of the game once it’s running reliably. Then, we’ll concentrate on refining how the game plays and building out its overall structure for the long haul.

The interview concluded with a message for both those who doubt and those who have always supported the project. He told doubters that trust will be built through actual achievements, not just words, and invited anyone to participate when they believe the game is worth their time.

He explained that the dedication and encouragement from long-time fans were crucial to his decision to fully commit to revitalizing Hytale, ultimately stating that the community was responsible for its rescue.

FAQ

When will Hytale release?

While an exact date hasn’t been revealed yet, the blog post confirming the game’s rescue indicates a release date announcement is coming very soon.

Why was the original 2018 Hytale trailer so ambitious

Simon explained that the trailer effectively showed what the team was aiming for and played a key role in getting the project funded. While the initial plan seemed doable, a major engine overhaul later on created significant and lengthy complications.

Will early access of Hytale be polished?

Look, Simon’s been really upfront about it – the initial early access version isn’t going to be perfect. We can expect some bugs, things still being added, and generally a bit of a raw experience. But the good news is the team is committed to pushing out updates regularly after it launches, so it should improve quickly!

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2025-11-19 01:41