Hytale saved after Simon Collins-Laflamme rehired over 30 former devs

Riot Games has sold Hytale back to its original co-founder, Simon Collins-Laflamme, who has rehired over 30 former devs with plans to hire more. The title had previously been cancelled by Riot Games; the company also shut down Hypixel Studios in June 2025, but Laflamme’s reacquisition of the development of Hytale marks the resurrection of Hypixel Studios as well. 

Here is a TL;DR of the future of Hytale, according to the official Hytale blog post:  

• Early access date: To be announced in the coming days
• Platform: Windows at launch, Linux / Mac will be attempted, other platforms much later
• Pricing: Details to be announced in the coming days
• Early access state: Expect bugs, rough edges, unbalanced content, and frequent updates that break things
• Early access duration: Expected to last at least a few years; no rush to “1.0”
• Launch content: Exploration Mode, Creative Mode, and Modding
• Not at launch: Minigames and Adventure Mode (both come later; dedicated team for minigames)
• Ownership: We own 100% of Hytale (repurchased from Riot Games)
• Funding: 10-year personal funding commitment; no investors or publishers
• Game build: Using the previous engine from the trailer, enabling faster development and immediate playability
• Modding: Available at launch. Run your own servers and create custom content.

The goal is to build a game and evolve it with time to meet the game’s needs and players’ responses.

“We’re choosing to focus on making a great game first, rather than a perfect engine,” the dev blog reads. 

At the moment, development is undergoing some slowdown as a result of the Cross-platform (C++) Engine, which is significantly behind in terms of gameplay when compared to the Legacy Engine (C#/Java PC-only). The estimate is two years before the developers can consider early access with it. Therefore, the leadership decided to abandon cross-platform for now and return to the Legacy Engine, which is once again PC only. Modding is actively promoted for Hytale, and is a top priority and a core part of the team’s vision and long-term survival.