OG Hytale founder confirms he "will reach out" to Riot Games about buying back the Minecraft rival: "The chances of revival are next to impossible… It's the least I can do"

Screenshot from Hytale, showing three warriors with a sword, bow, and staff sighting a big, icy dragon.
(Image credit: Riot Games)

After considering a $25 million buy-back, OG Hypixel Studios founder Simon Collins-Laflamme has now confirmed that he will reach out to Riot Games about reviving the scrapped Minecraft rival.

You might remember Hytale as the blocky fantasy adventure game that went absolutely viral years ago, with its announcement trailer hitting well over 60 million views. Collins-Laflamme eventually sold the studio and the in-development game to Riot (League of Legends), which recently killed both earlier this week.

On social media, Collins-Laflamme is now determined to try and make things right. "I will reach out, however remember it will take a while, give it some time," he wrote. "It will take months to get answers and months to get done. I will share as much as possible as I go through the process."

Although he does warn Hytale hopefuls to keep their expectations "extremely low because usually when large companies shutdown a project like this the chances of revival are next to impossible." That's not stopping him from trying anyway. "Yes, I made the decision, I will give my best to save Hytale. Even if it’s 1% chance. Its the least I can do to the same community that gave me the opportunity to be where I am today."

The Hytale founder recently toyed with the idea of dropping $25 million to get the blocky adventure game back on track, but he now clarifies "it would require a LOT less money to get to something that could be released in Very Early Access with temporarily removed features." He also said "we could just get the community involved ASAP in modding / bug reports / feature requests / crowdfunding and find ways to use Shared Source and Open Source with cash bounties to speed up production and keep team relatively small."

Stardew Valley's ConcernedApe reportedly says he could "possibly" step in to save cancelled Minecraft-like Hytale, but he'd need to know "why it failed" first

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Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

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