All articles tagged with #hytale
Minecraft lead dev Jens 'Jeb' Bergensten says Hytale is polished but would rather play Minecraft, a sentiment echoed by Hypixel’s Simon Collins-Laflamme who notes Hytale still has a long way to go. The piece highlights Hytale’s ongoing Early Access, its modding potential, and planned features like bosses, dungeons, and expanded fantasy worlds as it differentiates itself from Minecraft.
Hytale's long-awaited early access release, after Riot Games briefly canceled the project and Hypixel Studios reacquired it, is described by Hytale's boss Simon Collins-Laflamme as the most challenging yet rewarding experience of his life, signaling a major milestone as the team moves forward with ongoing development.
Hytale's first major update adds work-in-progress dinosaurs roaming underground jungles (spawned in new unexplored areas), makes skeletons immune to drowning, adds knockback resistance to some NPCs, lets fire-themed characters avoid fire damage, and moves the in-game bedtime to 7:30 PM, along with various bug fixes, improved hit/attack visuals, and QoL tweaks. Modding remains an option, and guides are available for server setup and optimization.
A Hytale modder demonstrates Minecraft running inside Hytale’s world map using pure CPU-based pixel data manipulation (no GPU/OpenGL), rendering a 320×240, ~35 FPS build server-side. The feat, based on an old Minecraft version (0.30), highlights a thriving modding scene and positions Hytale as a potential Minecraft competitor.
Hytale’s first update brings a broad slate of fixes and quality‑of‑life improvements across world-building, NPCs, crafting, farming, audio and UI, plus new content. Dinosaurs and other NPCs join the underground jungles (with placeholder behaviours while they're refined), new environmental effects in the Devastated Lands and volcanic areas, and gameplay tweaks like easier backpack access, faster leather crafting, and mob balance changes. The patch emphasizes a rapid cadence of updates and ongoing modding support, with Eurogamer praising the launch as a polished, promising foundation for the title’s future.
Rust director Alistair McFarlane offered $25 million to buy Amazon's struggling MMO New World as it heads toward shutdown, urging a community-led approach with publicly hostable servers; whether the bid is serious is unclear and Amazon has not commented, but the move underscores New World's troubles and has drawn attention from other developers, including Hytale's creator.
Hytale is launching through its own Hypixel launcher rather than Steam, to foster closer community feedback and avoid potentially negative first impressions; a Steam release isn’t ruled out but isn’t required, since Valve’s platform may not yet support all of Hytale’s modding features, and console release is planned for the future.
After Riot canceled it and Hypixel regained the rights, Hytale's early access launch is surprisingly solid, delivering a polished, Minecraft-like sandbox with a robust creative toolkit, magic-based combat, and extensive world-building. While it isn’t fully differentiated yet and terrain generation can feel similar to Minecraft, the game shows strong potential, supported by active modding, planned Adventure mode, and two years of funding that bode well for its future.
Hytale launched in early access after a decade of development and a tumultuous path, including Riot’s 2025 cancellation and a reacquisition by Hypixel founder, instantly ranking as Twitch’s most-watched game with around 344,000 viewers as fans celebrate the long-awaited Minecraft-like title and pre-orders fund two years of future development.
Hytale launches in early access via its own launcher (not Steam or consoles), offering three paid editions—Standard ($19.99), Supporter ($34.99), and Cursebreaker ($69.99)—each including cosmetic sets and exclusive capes; the title, from Hypixel, is expected to attract over a million players, supports official mods, and lists minimum and recommended PC specs. To play, download the Hytale launcher from the official site, sign into or create an account, and buy the game through the Pre-Purchase option; development will continue with patches and added content.
Hytale opened its early access today via Hypixel’s own launcher (not Steam yet), offering three buy-in packages from $24 to $84. The studio says sufficient pre-purchases have already secured the next two years of development costs, and the mod scene is thriving on CurseForge as players begin exploring its world.
Hytale's early access has launched with download and login hiccups; the Hypixel team says a patch is coming to fix bugs and auth issues, and advises players to restart the launcher and ensure their system clock is synced while the global distribution rolls out. Some reports also point to Norwegian OS language as a potential cause.
Riot Games canceled the development of Hytale after over a decade, but fans and industry figures like Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone and Hypixel founder Simon Collins-Laflamme have shown interest in potentially reviving the project, though Barone clarifies he's not actively involved.
Hytale, a highly anticipated Minecraft-style game developed by Hypixel Studios with backing from Riot Games, has been canceled after nearly 7 years of development due to technical challenges and unmet ambitions, leading to the studio's shutdown and staff layoffs.
Riot Games is shutting down Hypixel Studios, the developer behind the Minecraft-like game Hytale, after nearly a decade of development, citing technical challenges and delays in delivering the game. Despite the closure, the Hypixel server on Minecraft will continue independently, and the team is receiving support from Riot. The decision reflects the difficulties in realizing the game's ambitious vision.