Hytale, a blocky survival RPG that started life inside a Minecraft server, is back in development after the game was canceled earlier this year. That’s thanks to its creators buying the project back from Riot Games so that they could revive it, ready for early access.
That’s right, this isn’t a case of Hytale being back in development and you’ll hear another update about it in three years, if we’re lucky. While the game is, understandably, in rough shape – the last time we heard anything about it, Riot was confirming it had been scrapped – the founder of the studio behind Hytale’s creation, Simon Collins-Laflamme, confirmed they plan to open up early access for Hytale as soon as possible.
Hytale Has Been Bought Back And Revived By Its Founders
Collins-Laflamme revealed that he had bought back the rights to Hytale from Riot on Monday. “We did it. Hytale is saved. We have acquired Hytale from Riot Games,” he wrote on Twitter. “My plan? Get it out to you as soon as possible. No more waiting. You’ll get to play it, rough edges and all. It won’t be perfect on day one. My hope is that together, we’ll shape it into something truly special.”
Collins-Laflamme ensures that expectations for Hytale are low out of the gate, admitting that the four-year-old build of the game he and the new team, which is made up of 30 rehired developers that are very familiar with Hytale’s inner workings, is in rough shape. While there is no firm release date for Hytale in early access, Collins-Laflamme and the team are expecting it to be in that state for at least three years before it gets a full release.
A longer form blog post from the team now working on the revived Hytale goes into more detail about what those who were eagerly awaiting the game can expect from the project. That’s where Collins-Laflamme confirms that a team of 30 will be working on Hytale, and that he has bought back the rights to the game alongside fellow Hypixel co-founder, Philippe Touchette.
There is no higher power anymore. Hytale is now independently owned. Despite working with a janky older build of the game, the reformed Hytale team expects to announce more details about early access in the coming days, so they’re working fast.
It was also reaffirmed that even though Hytale was scrapped while under the Riot banner, the game’s initial failure wasn’t Riot’s fault. It was said at the time that the problems with Hytale stemmed from its own leadership. Hopefully that won’t be a problem now that the game has been given a second chance, and Collins-Laflamme commented on how cooperative Riot has been during this whole process, noting that the studio only wants what’s best for those who have remained hopeful that something might come of Hytale, even after it was canceled.
- Date Founded
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September 1, 2006
- Subsidiaries
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Riot Forge
- Headquarters
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West Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States
