Hytale was a game that had great ambitions. It wanted to be a sandbox RPG and was heavily reminiscent of Minecraft. Numerous fans eagerly awaited it, but now the developers have some bitter news.
What kind of game is this? Hytale was announced in 2018. It was supposed to be a sandbox RPG set in a procedurally generated fantasy world. Visually, the comparison to Minecraft was obvious. The developers of Hypixel Studios were inspired by their own Minecraft server ‘Hypixel’ and wanted to create a standalone game.
Their ambitions to create a better Minecraft were high. Many players were excited by the trailer released on YouTube in 2018, which garnered over 61 million views. Hype was created. The release was scheduled for 2021, already under Riot Games, who had acquired Hypixel Studios a year earlier.
The release did not happen. In the developers’ updates from 2022, it was mentioned that the technical framework of Hytale would be rebuilt from the ground up. The developers did not provide a new release date. This situation already raised skepticism within the community.
The concerns have now been confirmed: The development of Hytale is being canceled and the studio behind it is closing down.
The Reasons for the End
How did this happen? The CEO of Hypixel Studios, Aaron Donaghey, reached out on x.com in a long post to the community.
In it, he explained that work on Hytale will be halted. The studio will gradually shut down over the coming months.
The CEO also directly cited the reasons for this decision, which he says was anything but easy. According to him, the ambitions of the studio had increased significantly over time. The envisioned vision had changed and the game the developers had in mind became increasingly complex.
By the time of the engine switch, it became clear that Hytale would need much more time to meet the developers’ expectations. Although the developers tried to adjust the game’s size and timeline to make quick progress, this would have required compromises that would have turned Hytale into a different game. Furthermore, more investors were needed to financially support the project.
Hypixel Studios emphasizes how hard the decision was:
We still believe in Hytale. We believe in the team and are forever grateful to every member, past or present, who has poured their love into the game. We are also incredibly proud of the work we have done: the world we envisioned, the risks we took, and the heart we put into this project. None of that can be taken from us.
Aaron Donaghey on x.com
Riot Games extends its thanks to Donaghey as well. The company has supported the developers for years.
How are the players reacting? Understandably, the news has sparked disappointment among waiting fans. However, there is also anger and confusion. Under the CEO’s post on x.com, users share their thoughts:
- “You brought this on yourselves. It’s very sad to see how this game falls victim to excessive ambition and hype,” writes NOI2Z.
- “I’m not sure how you can say: ‘We still believe in Hytale,’ but throw away 8+ years of work without showing or revealing anything,” finds Absolutely Alpha.
- “I don’t get it… the tens of millions of views on the trailer, the overwhelming support for years (despite the lack of updates), backed by Riot Games, and not even an Early Access…?” writes Snipper.
- “I don’t understand how a game of this magnitude, backed by so much money, cannot even produce a single playable demo or gameplay material,” comments Mura_VT.
The story of Hypixel Studio and their supposed Minecraft killer is unfortunate, but it is no longer an exception in the current gaming industry. Just recently, many Kickstarter backers of another project had to swallow a bitter pill: “This is unacceptable”: Users are angry because they gave a studio €300,000 for their game and now get nothing in return
