The cancellation of Hytale has disappointed many fans of the upcoming game, who were hoping for a viable alternative toMinecraft. Hytale, and developer Hypixel Games, originated in the popular Hypixel Minecraft server, a mini-game-focused server within Minecraft.
Hytale was going to be a more RPG-focused, MMO-style version of Minecraft, and there was clearly potential in the project asRiot Gamesacquired the studio in 2020. Following the cancellation of Hytale, many disappointed fans immediately blamed Riot for failing to support the project.
It’s an understandable response. We’ve seen countless examples of publishers and/or corporations buying large studios, only for them to place unreasonable demands on their newly acquired studios, before shuttering them when lofty expectations aren’t met.
A Failure of Leadership
This isn’t exactly a fair brush to tar Riot with, as every indie developer Riot worked with through Riot Forge was very complimentary of the relationship between Riot and their studios. According to DevSlashNull, a former IT lead at Hypixel Studios, this was also the case with Hytale.
“Hytale: what could possibly go wrong when you hire new leadership that thinks the original team is incompetent?” they wrote in asocial media post. “Oh the whole project ends up going in circles until it dies. The community should be angry at the mismanagement that stole the opportunity for Hytale to flourish.”
A replier then asked if it was Riot who ruined Hytale with “their corporate greed.”
“Riot was an absolute pleasure to work with, from people to leaders. They understood the power of empowering and giving folks agency. The issues were all internal to Hytale’s leadership,“they asserted.
Riot Games now owns the Hytale IP, but the live-service giant has shifted its focus back to working on its core titles, namely League of Legends and Valorant, since it acquired Hypixel Games in 2020. A revival of Hytale under Riot seems unlikely, and DevSlashNull sadly agrees,saying, “The team that had the original vision and values had all left or been let go yesterday.”
It’s unfortunate, but this could be the end of the road for Hytale. At the very least, Hypixel remains unaffected as it is a separate entity to Hypixel Games.
