Latest news with #Hypixel
Economic Times
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Economic Times
What happened to Minecraft rival Hytale? Riot cancels the game and shuts studio after 10 years in development
Live Events Why Hytale Was Cancelled? Background & Legacy (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel What began as a gutsy attempt to rival Minecraft, fueled by nearly a decade of ambition, investment, and hype, has officially come to an end as Riot Games announced the cancellation of Hytale . Its long-awaited sandbox RPG , developed by Hypixel Studios , will begin winding down the studio in the coming months. Despite years of effort and high expectations, developers say they could not deliver the game they had envisioned without compromising its core game, in development since 2015 and fully backed by Riot since its acquisition in 2020, was intended to blend creative block-building with deep RPG mechanics and robust modding tools .According to a post by co-founder and CEO Aaron Donaghey (aka 'Noxy'), despite ambitious vision and a major engine reboot, the team concluded the project was 'still not as far along as it needed to be' after ten years of options like scaling back scope, changing timelines, or narrowing focus were considered, each compromise risked undermining the essence of what made Hytale unique, denying the experience the developers believed players expressed gratitude to Riot for continued support, including efforts to secure external investment to sustain the project, and for providing generous severance and resources to the team during this transition.'Game development is brutally hard,' he reflected, admitting the evolving genre and rising technical ambitions ultimately exceeded feasible years of evolving game scope and restarting the engine, first in C#, then ported to C++, Hytale became too large and costly to complete as rejected the compromise. Narrowing features or trimming timelines would have, in their view, diluted the soul of Hytale, making it unrecognizable from its original competing sandbox and rival modding platforms advanced, the expectations for Hytale soared. Even with Riot's aid, the game failed to keep up structurally and funded by Riot in 2015 and fully acquired by 2020, Hytale generated massive excitement with its debut trailer, garnering over 31 million views within a promised procedurally generated fantasy biomes, deep RPG elements, modding frameworks, cinematic tools, and support for player-created this promise, development remained in pre‑beta stages by mid-2024, when the team undertook a full engine migration that delayed June 2025, the decision to cancel was made, in part because the evolving scope and resources needed kept growing while the game's realization lagged far behind its initial reportedly laid off around 150 Hypixel employees as a result. Hypixel's popular Minecraft minigame server remains operational, its separately managed entity will continue unaffected.
Time of India
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
What happened to Minecraft rival Hytale? Riot cancels the game and shuts studio after 10 years in development
What began as a gutsy attempt to rival Minecraft, fueled by nearly a decade of ambition, investment, and hype, has officially come to an end as Riot Games announced the cancellation of Hytale . Its long-awaited sandbox RPG , developed by Hypixel Studios , will begin winding down the studio in the coming months. Despite years of effort and high expectations, developers say they could not deliver the game they had envisioned without compromising its core identity. The game, in development since 2015 and fully backed by Riot since its acquisition in 2020, was intended to blend creative block-building with deep RPG mechanics and robust modding tools . According to a post by co-founder and CEO Aaron Donaghey (aka 'Noxy'), despite ambitious vision and a major engine reboot, the team concluded the project was 'still not as far along as it needed to be' after ten years of development. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo While options like scaling back scope, changing timelines, or narrowing focus were considered, each compromise risked undermining the essence of what made Hytale unique, denying the experience the developers believed players deserved. Donaghey expressed gratitude to Riot for continued support, including efforts to secure external investment to sustain the project, and for providing generous severance and resources to the team during this transition. Live Events 'Game development is brutally hard,' he reflected, admitting the evolving genre and rising technical ambitions ultimately exceeded feasible boundaries. Why Hytale Was Cancelled? After years of evolving game scope and restarting the engine, first in C#, then ported to C++, Hytale became too large and costly to complete as envisioned. Developers rejected the compromise. Narrowing features or trimming timelines would have, in their view, diluted the soul of Hytale, making it unrecognizable from its original pitch. As competing sandbox and rival modding platforms advanced, the expectations for Hytale soared. Even with Riot's aid, the game failed to keep up structurally and creatively. Background & Legacy Originally funded by Riot in 2015 and fully acquired by 2020, Hytale generated massive excitement with its debut trailer, garnering over 31 million views within a month. It promised procedurally generated fantasy biomes, deep RPG elements, modding frameworks, cinematic tools, and support for player-created content. Despite this promise, development remained in pre‑beta stages by mid-2024, when the team undertook a full engine migration that delayed progress. By June 2025, the decision to cancel was made, in part because the evolving scope and resources needed kept growing while the game's realization lagged far behind its initial promise. Riot reportedly laid off around 150 Hypixel employees as a result. Hypixel's popular Minecraft minigame server remains operational, its separately managed entity will continue unaffected.
Hindustan Times
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Hytale canceled as Riot Games confirms developer Hypixel Studios is shutting down
Hytale, the much-awaited sandbox game in development since 2015, has officially been canceled as Hypixel Studios begins the process of shutting down operations over the next few months. The announcement was made by CEO and co-founder Noxy (Aaron Donaghey) on Monday, June 23. Hytale canceled after being in development since 2015 In his statement, Noxy said this was not the outcome anyone at Hypixel or Riot Games wanted. He added that, despite almost a decade of adapting and exploring every possible path, they could not bring Hytale to life in a way that would 'truly' deliver on its promise. According to Xbox Era, the cancellation came after years of high anticipation for the video game, which was initially pitched as a blend of Minecraft-style creativity and structured RPG-style adventures. Hypixel Studios, which was acquired by Riot Games in 2020, had long promoted the game as a genre-defining sandbox experience for PC and Mac. Reports indicated that a playable beta version was in the works, with fans signing up in large numbers. Minecraft Hypixel server not affected Noxy stated that mounting technical challenges, an evolving creative vision, and a maturing sandbox genre raised the bar for what the game needed to be. This ultimately made development unsustainable. The CEO noted that despite a full reboot of the game engine, progress remained slower than necessary. This forced the studio to consider cutting features or compromising on its ambitions. Ultimately, Noxy said, they decided not to continue development since it would neither be the game Hypixel set out to make nor the one players deserved. Despite the studio's closure, he confirmed the popular Hypixel Minecraft server will not be impacted, as it is operated separately from the studio. Riot Games to support affected employees Noxy, aka Aaron, thanked the team and the community, expressing appreciation for Riot Games and the fans who supported Hytale. He praised Riot for taking care of the team with generous severance packages and job assistance. He acknowledged it was a tough decision, and although Hypixel won't be the ones to launch the game, he and the team still believe in 'its message and the great possibilities this genre has.' ALSO READ: Sports play through another dangerously hot day in parts of the US FAQs: What happened to Hytale? Development has officially ended due to technical difficulties and the inability to deliver on the game's full creative vision. Is Hypixel Studios closing? Yes, the studio is beginning the process of winding down operations over the coming months. Will this affect the Hypixel Minecraft server? No. The Hypixel server is operated separately and will continue to run as usual. Why did Hytale fail? According to the studio, technical complexity, rising creative ambitions, and industry shifts made development unsustainable.
Engadget
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Riot Games shuts down Hypixel Studios and ends development of Hytale
Here's a bit of sad news for gamers. Hypixel Studios is shutting down and ending development of Hytale . The game looked pretty nifty, combining action-RPG mechanics with Minecraft . Riot Games purchased the developer back in 2020, though it has been working on Hytale a lot longer than that . Development is ending immediately and the company will be shutting down "over the next few months." Hypixel CEO Aaron "Noxy" Donaghey said the decision was made when it "became clear we couldn't bring Hytale to life in a way that truly delivered on its promise." To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. "Over time, as our vision evolved and the genre matured around us, the bar kept rising," he continued. "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." Donaghey doesn't blame Riot. He went on to say that the company behind League of Legends and Valorant offered the staff "generous severance" and is helping impacted employees find new opportunities. We contacted Riot Games for a comment and will update this post if we hear back. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. This is a bummer. The game looked pretty darn cool and recent developer updates teased reworked biomes, improved graphics and a lot more. Now we'll never know what could have been.
