Hytale’s lead developer has revealed it was “a damn miracle” that the long-awaited sandbox RPG was even salvageable.
Hytale was first revealed in 2018, and the Minecraft-style sandbox RPG quickly went viral thanks to its emphasis on survival, adventure, and creative tools.
Developed by Hypixel Studios, the project gained major backing when the studio was acquired by League of Legends developers Riot Games in 2020, but years of delays and shifting scope ultimately led to the game being cancelled and the studio shut down in 2023.
After reacquiring Hytale and restarting development independently, co-director Simon Collins-Laflamme says the turnaround was far faster than expected, but the work getting the game back on track has been anything but easy.
Hytale lead says salvaging Hytale was a “miracle”
Collins-Laflamme, who also founded Hypixel, shared the comments on December 30 in a post on Twitter, where he described the emotional reality of bringing the project back from the brink.
“It should have taken years to fix, but within weeks, we got the game into a playable, fun state. And now, instead of slowing down or celebrating a release, we have to keep pushing for years to make up for the time that was lost,” he said.
“It’s a damn miracle we were able to salvage Hytale. It was barely playable. All basics were broken. Camera, movement, combat, crafting, building, gameloop, sounds, rendering. Everything, everything was wrong.”
Hytale is currently set to enter early access on January 13, 2026, with Collins-Laflamme stressing that the focus is now on gameplay-first development and rebuilding trust rather than rushing toward a full 1.0 launch.
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