It's game over for Hytale, the long-awaited Minecraft-style sandbox game, and its studio, Hypixel. The news was posted this week on the game's official website, where Director Aaron Donaghey wrote:
Game development is brutally hard - especially when you’re trying to build something original that speaks to a creative, passionate community. Over time, as our vision evolved and the genre matured around us, the bar kept rising. 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.
The game was going to be set in a procedurally generated fantasy world featuring RPG-style combat and dungeons. Of course, as you'd expect in a Minecraft-inspired game, there would also be block-based construction and mods. Hytale would have been published by Riot Games, which acquired Hypixel Studios in April 2020. In the cancellation letter, Hypixel thanked Riot for their support of the personnel following this transition:
We’re also deeply grateful to Riot - not just for the years of support and the opportunities they gave us, but for the care they’re showing our team during this transition. They supported us in going out into the world to see if there were investors or acquirers who could continue to help carry Hytale forward. And now, as we begin winding things down, they’re ensuring our team is supported with generous severance and resources to help them find what’s next. It’s not just thoughtful - it’s human. And it shows a genuine effort to take care of the people behind the work.
The original Hypixel server in Minecraft is not affected and will remain operational.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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