Hytale is officially here in Early Access. Yes, after getting stuck in development, cancelled, and then ultimately revived, the sandbox RPG has launched in Early Access, with the dev team behind the project expressing their excitement to at long last release the new game, saying, "we get to press the button we've waited 10 years to push."
Hytale was unexpectedly cancelled by Riot Games back in June 2025 following developer Hypixel Studios getting shuttered by the publisher. But Riot then sold the property back to Hypixel's founder, which put it back on track and in development officially back in development.
Hytale Early Access release date
Hytale released in Early Access on January 13, 2026 on PC. It's not available on Steam, and instead has its own dedicated Hytale launcher.
The Hytale team posted an official blog on the day of the launch, detailing the game's journey, what to expect, and what's ahead for the game. While a roadmap isn't completely pre-planned, early updates are expected to roll out "quickly and frequently" during Early Access.
It's been quite a journey to see the game arrive in Early Access, so it'll likely be some time before it's full launch, but we'll be keeping track of future updates.
What is Hytale?
Hytale is a procedurally-generated sandbox game with many RPG elements, described as "a world of adventure and creativity" on the game's official website.
It looks and plays in a similar fashion to Minecraft, complete with mobs and biomes. Yet, Hytale offers a deeper focus on player-led creation, grafting in mod tools and scripting systems to help players customize the game and take it into their own hands upon launch, creating mini-games and making their experience fully custom and unique.
Developer Hypixel Studios is famous for creating the Hypixel Minecraft servers. If you're unfamiliar, the Hypixel servers offer a series of popular mini-games like SkyWars and Crazy Walls and showcase adventure maps. They're an incredibly popular force within the Minecraft community and broke many server milestones, earning the studio Guinness World Records for concurrent players in one instance, as well as many other awards.
It's still extremely popular even today, and out of a desire for control over their runaway success, the studio decided to embark on its own venture, built from the ground up by a team of developers based all over the world. This was in response to EULA measures introduced into Minecraft in the middle of the decade, which came down hard on server monetization and harmed Hypixel's booming economy.
Since starting working on the project, which is built within the studio's own engine, Hytale received funding from Riot Games and a set of games industry veterans. Now that it's been sold back to Hypixel founder Simon Collins-Laflamme, it's full steam ahead once again as Collins-Laflamme looks to expedite an early access launch.
Why was Hytale canceled?
Despite being reinstated in November 2025, Hytale was initially cancelled in June 2025. As per the Hytale website, the game was canceled due to the fact that it became clear that the team couldn't get the game in "a way that truly delivered on its promise."
The statement went on to cite that the team's technical ambitions grew more complex, and even after a major reboot of the game engine, the game wasn't where it needed to be. The team reportedly looked at adjusting timelines and scope but ultimately decided to cancel the game instead of compromising their vision.
"To our community: thank you. Your belief in Hytale kept us going through thick and thin. Your energy, creativity, and support inspired us to do the best work of our lives. Even though we won't be the ones to bring this game into the world, we still believe in what it stood for and in the incredible potential of this genre."
The post continued, saying: "even though we're closing this chapter, the spirit of Hytale and everything we hoped it could be will stay with us. We're proud of what we built, and we'll carry those lessons forward into whatever comes next."
The rights to Hytale have now been sold back to Hypixel Studios creator Collins-Laflamme, with an official Tweet from Riot Games citing its reasons for doing so. "We've reached an agreement to return Hytale to @simon_hypixel, giving this community its best shot at experiencing a revised version of the game. Wishing the team the best of luck for what's ahead."
Hytale gameplay
Now that Hytale is back in development, we can expect that all original plans to be back on the table. When it was first announced, Hytale boasted "handcrafted adventure scenarios" available at launch, including scenes like "a mage’s tower overrun with monsters,” underground cave exploration, and gigantic boss battles. Those early claims also asserted that "no two adventures will be the same," suggesting that the procedural nature of the game will facilitate replayability.
Hytale is aiming to be fully playable in co-op and encourage players to forge their own story, settling into the world in a series of roles depending on their disposition. Warriors, crafters, and explorers are very welcome and would have complement each other in a party. Hytale also offers collectible gear that can be looted by wiping out the unique creatures lording over the game's many zones. There are also promises of being able to create custom characters, grow crops, raise pets, tame mounts, and build vehicles.
The game was designed to have anti-cheat for its competitive mini-game component, with "top performance on a wide range of PCs" in mind. Hypixel promises to offer its own official servers to play the game on, but will encourage players to forge their own communities with the game's shared-source server code.
You can catch the first glimpse of Hytale's gameplay at the bottom of this blog post on the official website. The combat in Hytale is considerably more developed than Minecraft, somewhat evocative of Skyrim's charged and quick attacks. Magic also appeared to feature in the game, as well as functional quests. An Edge Magazine preview revealed that the designers wanted to revolutionize the PvP they had been working on with Minecraft. "We want to take the onus off the 'spam clicking' sort of behavior, and give us a little more depth," content lead Sean McCafferty explains. The same article revealed a few other Hytale features, such as treasure maps, bounty quests, and the fact that there are a number of different weapon families, from war hammers to longswords.
Hytale reveal trailer
You can check out the announcement trailer for Hytale above, which sheds some light on the revived game's universe and art style. The trailer showcases a host of critters, including adorable puppies and cats, as well as a glimpse into the different play styles you could engage with, from solo exploration to crafting and hunting across what looks to be a diverse set of biomes.
The boss battles function like… well…proper boss battles, and the underwater exploration looks gorgeous, a far cry from Minecraft's murky depths. The in-game tomb raiding appeared to be more linear and focused than Minecraft's super-procedural offering, too. One blink and you miss it moment shows off a Theater where players can come together and watch online videos with their friends dressed up as their Hytale avatars - a nice touch!
If you want more blocky goodness, here are some other games like Minecraft to try out.
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