Promising Minecraft-like Hytale cancelled after ten years in development

Promising Minecraft-like sandbox adventure Hytale has been cancelled after a decade of development, and creator Hypixel Studios is “winding down” its operations.

Hytale began development in 2015, and was Hypixel’s attempt at combining the mini-games found on its hugely popular eponymous Minecraft server – which has been visited by more than 18m visitors since its inception in 2013 – with its own RPG-like, Minecraft-style sandbox experience, built from the ground up. And there’s been a lot of buzz around the project for a long time, with League of Legends developer Riot Games investing millions in Hytale prior to acquiring Hypixel in 2020. But now the plug has been pulled.

Hypixel announced the “incredibly tough news” in a lengthy statement on its website. “This is not the outcome any of us – at Hypixel or at Riot – wanted,” it wrote. “But after years of pushing forward, adapting, and exploring every possible path, it became clear we couldn’t bring Hytale to life in a way that truly delivered on its promise.”

“Game development is brutally hard – especially when you’re trying to build something original that speaks to a creative, passionate community,” it continued. “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.