"Hytale" was released Jan. 13 for early access by Hypixel Studios after much anticipation. This role-playing game, which pre-orders started in December 2025 for, allows players to have freedom to do what they want with adventures hidden in the world.
The game was designed by "Minecraft" modders, people who modify the game and ran the successful “Hypixel” server. Although these servers existed within "Minecraft," "Hytale" is a game that is completely independent from the original. The studio’s goal is to grow its fanbase by appealing to the fans from the original server.
Minecraft servers heavily inspired the new game, making players wonder whether they should just play the original. After its release, Hytale had such a big following that the chief creative officer of Mojang Studios, Jens “Jeb” Bergensten, played the game.
“I’d like it to be a little different from Minecraft. It’s very polished, but the feeling I get when I play is that I’d rather just play Minecraft,” Bergensten wrote to a user on Bluesky.
Hypixel’s founder, Simon Collins-Laflamme, appreciated Bergensten’s comment, as he liked that it was considered “polished” during its pre-access trial.
The day before its release, the developers warned players that the launch was highly expected and that they anticipated over one million players to turn up. Since the rights to the game were sold back to Collins-Lalamme by Riot Games after purchasing it in 2020, the fans had been waiting six years to play it.
The game went into production in 2015. The idea was to be similar to "Minecraft," but have modding be the main feature and not something added later on. The project was kept secret for three years until a trailer was released in December 2018, which went viral. Due to glitches and issues, the game was delayed.
Riot Studios purchased the game in 2020, but it made a near-fatal decision to change the game engine, killing momentum and anticipation.
In mid-2025, the project fell flat in both gameplay and expense, being too expensive for its audience. On June 23, 2025, Riot Studios announced the game’s cancellation.
On Nov. 17, 2025, Hypixel announced its purchase of the game when Collins-Laflamme posted on X saying they saved the game.
“If you don’t feel comfortable pre-ordering, please don’t,” Collins-Laflamme wrote on an X post. “This is true early access, meaning it’s still very much unfinished and will be buggy for a while, but you have my and the team’s commitment to make Hytale the game we’ve always wanted it to be.”
One of the most popular "Minecraft" YouTubers, DanTDM, released a video playing "Hytale" the day after it was released for early access. The video is over two hours long and includes the player going through the game for the very first time.
“Now this is my favorite game,” DanTDM jokingly commented when he was able to break every block in a tree in one attempt.
At the end of the video, he added that he enjoyed it and would like to continue playing the game.
Another famous Minecraft YouTuber, Legundo, released multiple videos of himself testing "Hytale." He is not as popular as DanTDM, with around 705,000 subscribers to DanTDM’s 29.2 million, but still has a wide reach in the "Minecraft" fanbase.
In Legundo’s first video, he explains the backstory of Hytale and the fact that it had been sold and canceled in production quite a few times.
“This could be fun,” Legundo ended the video, saying jokingly.
With good reviews from Minecraft players and other adventure game fans, "Hytale" looks to have a successful future. As the word gets out that there is a new sandbox-style RPG game out there, "Minecraft" regulars might begin to switch to "Hytale."
