After miracle revival, Hytale head "now assembling a dedicated team" to satisfy fans of a key genre that's only grown since the Minecraft-inspired game's reveal: cozy and farming games like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing

Hytale trailer screenshot of character watering a field of pumpkins
(Image credit: Hypixel)

Hytale studio Hypixel has formed a dedicated team focused on cozy game mainstays like cooking, farming, and taking care of voxel animals.

Due to Hytale's, eh, turbulent development over some 10 years, which involved a sale to Riot and then a reacquisition by original owner Hypixel just recently, it's hard to say with any real certainty what the core gameplay loop will look like, but the original vision was a procedurally generated sandbox similar to Minecraft but with more RPG elements and player-generated content. Now, thanks to new comments from studio founder Simon Collins-Laflamme, we know it'll also have a big focus on life and farming simulation.

In a follow-up response to a fan hoping for a hunger system similar to many survival games, Collins-Laflamme clarified that the cooking system in Hytale will operate more like "a buff mechanic a bit like Valheim," in which food you cook will grant "unique buffs."

The dev also hopes to add even more complexity to cooking where you'll have "activity-based meals like a mining stew for faster swings" and be able to "prep combat meals, feed NPC villages, get quality system tied with bonuses, or build food mastery."

With Hytale now in the hands of its original founders and developers, Hypixel has said it's focused on getting the project back on track and to a state worth an early access launch. It's unclear how long that'll take, but the most recent update is that it's "coming together at last" even if there's still a "long way to go."

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Jordan Gerblick

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

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