To say Hytale has had a tumultuous development cycle would be an understatement. Development began in 2015 with funding from Riot Games, which would go on to acquire the Hypixel team entirely in 2020, only to pull the plug on it five years later. It wasn't until November 2025 that it was revived by its original founders, and development picked back up. It was originally intended to launch in 2021, for what it's worth.
With over 62 million views on its seven-year-old announcement trailer, and the developer expecting over one million players to turn up for the Hytale launch time tomorrow, excitement for its release certainly hasn't died during its downtime.
Pleased to announce that we have officially secured the next two years of development costs through pre-purchases. Combined with my personal commitment of ten years, we are looking very strong for the future ❤️Thank you all for the support.Hytale is saved.We are almost home.January 12, 2026
For a team that's grown to over 50 developers now (many former Hytale developers who were rehired), that's good going, especially given the early access package starts at $20 because "charging more didn’t feel right" at this stage.
Collins-Laflamme goes on to say, "Combined with my personal commitment of ten years, we are looking very strong for the future. Thank you all for the support. Hytale is saved. We are almost home."
If you're unsure what the 'personal commitment' is referring to, Collins-Laflamme says he's dedicated to supporting Hytale for the next decade, effectively regardless of the game's success, as he had initially co-funded the project alongside co-founder Philippe Touchette.
Fingers crossed, Collins-Laflamme's perhaps unwise dedication to the project won't need to be tested following the success so far.
Nevertheless, this sets high hopes for Hytale's early access period going forward. After all, this build is very much not the full scale of the team's ambitions for the project, even compared to the original pitch all those years ago.
That said, there's still plenty packed into the Minecraft-inspired voxel sandox early access build. In fact, one dev has already used its creative tools to make a homebrew side-scroller, so I'm looking forward to more wacky creations over the coming weeks, let alone the survival crafting you'd expect from Hytale.
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