The sandbox adventure game Hytale, long compared to Minecraft but with its own ambitious RPG twists, has finally arrived in early access. The journey to this point has been anything but straightforward, marked by years of development, a full cancellation, and an unexpected revival. Here's a detailed look at Hytale's extended history, from its origins through its shutdown by Riot Games and dramatic return, leading to its official early-access debut on January 13, 2026.
What Hytale Is About
Hytale is a sandbox action RPG that combines the open-ended creativity of games like Minecraft with deeper RPG progression and momentum. Players explore a vibrant, procedurally generated world filled with diverse biomes, ancient ruins, hidden dungeons, and a wide array of creatures ranging from small critters to formidable bosses. Core gameplay revolves around intuitive building tools for crafting structures and worlds, responsive combat systems featuring melee, ranged, and magic abilities, and extensive adventure elements like quests, loot collection, and character customization.
The game emphasizes creator tools from the start, allowing players to design custom maps, minigames, and servers with official modding support running server-side for seamless multiplayer experiences. Hytale supports cross-play across PC, Mac, and Linux, with a focus on polished core loops for exploration, combat, building, and social interaction. Originally envisioned as the future of sandbox gaming, it promises endless replayability through community-driven content and expansive worlds teeming with secrets.
Why Riot Games Canceled Hytale
Development on Hytale began in 2015 by a small team from the popular Minecraft server Hypixel. Riot Games provided initial funding and fully acquired Hypixel Studios in 2020 to accelerate progress. However, as the project evolved over the next five years, challenges mounted. The team's ambitions grew increasingly complex, with scope creep pushing the game toward more advanced features in a rapidly maturing genre.
A major engine reboot was attempted to meet these rising technical demands, but even after significant investment, the game fell short of its goals. In a now-deleted blog post from June 2025, Hypixel Studios explained: "Over time, as our vision evolved and the genre matured around us, the bar kept rising... Our technical ambitions grew more complex, and even after a major reboot of the game engine, the team found that Hytale still wasn't as far along as it needed to be." Riot ultimately canceled the project that month, shuttering the studio after a decade of development and providing severance to the team.
Hytale's Revival
Just five months later, in November 2025, Hytale's original founders announced they had repurchased the project from Riot Games, reviving development under Hypixel Studios. The deal was struck without the team seeing the full state of the project, carrying massive risks, and the terms remain undisclosed.
"When we saw the community's reaction [to the original cancellation], we knew we had to act. Although we hadn't been involved with Hytale since 2020, Hytale and its community have always been something we cherished," the developers stated.
"We negotiated the deal, rehired 30 developers, secured funding, and made the call to return to the legacy engine and original vision," the developer said. The funding took the form of a 10-year personal funding commitment from Hypixel co-founder Simon Collins-Laflamme and other members of the original core team. "No investors or publishers," Hypixel said.
This bold move allowed the team to salvage a four-year-old build, fix hundreds of bugs in weeks, scale up to 50 core developers, and prepare for an ambitious early access launch without delays.
Riot Congratulating Hytale's Early-Access Launch
On January 13, 2026—the day Hytale entered early access—Riot Games publicly celebrated the milestone. Replying directly to Hypixel's launch announcement on X, Riot posted a simple but supportive salute: "Congrats on early access".
Hytale's Successful Launch
Hytale's early access launched on January 13, 2026, topping Twitch viewership charts on day one and drawing massive player interest despite launch-day challenges like queues and bugs inherent to rapid development. The day before release, Hypixel co-founder Simon Collins-Laflamme shared optimistic news on funding stability: "Pleased to announce that we have officially secured the next two years of development costs through pre-purchases," he said on social media. "Combined with my personal commitment of ten years," "we are looking very strong for the future."
Hypixel plans to expand Hytale significantly post-launch, introducing an Adventure Mode packed with rich story and narrative elements, alongside official minigames and enhanced social features. Console ports are slated for a later stage, while a mobile version remains under consideration. Regarding Steam, Hypixel noted it as a great platform and marketing tool, but added that the studio might never need to release there.
Players wanting to get involved in Hytale's early access have three options, with Hypixel currently selling a $23.99 USD standard edition, a $41.99 Supporter Edition, and an $83.99 Founder's Edition on its site—with the latter two versions including a selection of additional cosmetic outfits and capes.
