Hytale, the once promising challenger for Minecraft's throne, has been canceled after 10 years in development, and its developer, Hypixel Studios, is shutting down.
"We're ending development on Hytale and beginning the process of winding down Hypixel Studios over the next few months," reads a news update from Hypixel co-founder Noxy.
"This is not the outcome any of us - at Hypixel or at Riot - wanted. But after years of pushing forward, adapting, and exploring every possible path, it became clear we couldn’t bring Hytale to life in a way that truly delivered on its promise."
Hypixel was acquired by League of Legends and Valorant developer Riot Games in 2020, at the time pledging to continue to operate as an independent studio.
Development on Hytale first began back in 2015, but the game was officially announced with a 2018 trailer that would go on to reach a staggering 61 million views — clearly, there was a healthy demand for a riff on Minecraft that would've given players more tools to customize their experience and create entire procedurally generated worlds as well as mini-games and other custom content.
In 2022, Hypixel announced a delay and said it was rebooting the entire game with plans to launch on more platforms. In late 2023, the studio said it was still prototyping ideas with the new engine, and that point patience was a rapidly depleting resource in the Hytale community, to the point that by June 2025 there was some doubt the game would ever come out. Unfortunately, those hunches proved prophetic.
"Over time, as our vision evolved and the genre matured around us, the bar kept rising," said Noxy. "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. It became clear we’d need a lot more time to get it to a place where it could support the ambitious vision for the game.
"We looked at reducing scope, adjusting timelines, and finding new angles to keep moving forward. But each of those options would have meant compromising on what made Hytale special in the first place. It wouldn’t have been the game we set out to make. And it wouldn’t have been the game you deserve."
Noxy added that the Hypixel server on Minecraft will continue running independently from its namesake. Likewise, parent company Riot is supporting impacted employees with "generous" severance packages.
"Even though we’re closing this chapter, the spirit of Hytale and everything we hoped it could be will stay with us," said Noxy. "We’re proud of what we built, and we’ll carry those lessons forward into whatever comes next."
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