Minecraft-like RPG Hytale expects "over 1 million players" at launch, Hypixel lead reflects on its "incredibly difficult" development: "No sacrifices, no Hytale"

After more than a decade, the launch of Minecraft-inspired RPG Hytale is imminent, and the devs at Hypixel are expecting quite a lot of attention when it happens. Simon Collins-Laflamme, Hypixel founder and owner of Hytale, is feeling reflective about the journey here - and warning players to get ready for a busy release.

"The past few months have been incredibly difficult for my family as I have been away, reviving the game and rebuilding the team. Seven days a week," Collins-Laflamme says on X/Twitter. "My kids have not seen much of me in the past few months, I have missed milestones, events, precious moments and most importantly, the time we could have been together can't be brought back."

As we get closer to the Hytale release, I think of all the sacrifices made to get here. From the team, the community and myself.The past few months have been incredibly difficult for my family as I have been away, reviving the game and rebuilding the team. 7 days a week.My… https://t.co/4oenXJR7dlJanuary 11, 2026

Hypixel's combined efforts appear to be paying off in pre-release interest, as the expectation is for "over 1 million players" on January 13, according to another X/Twitter post. Fans are advised to download the launcher ASAP and get logged in and ready to boot the game up to help mitigate the inevitable server foibles.

It's remarkable to be here with Hytale at all. It survived acquisition by Riot only to be unceremoniously cancelled in June 2025, before Collins-Laflamme and his team were able to organize re-acquiring the project for swift overhaul and early access release. However the next few days go, that's already a story to tell the grandkids.

Hytale lead previously told a fan his "dream" feature was still just a dream, but a one-word follow-up suggests it's become a reality: "Actually"