Key Highlights:
- Hytale is an open world sandbox RPG, like Minecraft.
- The game was initially funded and propelled by Riot Games.
- Founder Collins-Laflamme managed to buy the game back and release it in early access.
Hytale, an open world sandbox RPG managed to take the gaming world by storm when it launched earlier today, January 13, 2026. The game has been in development for what felt like an eternity, and it’s nice to see Minecraft 2.0 finally be realized.
That being said, it’s development and history were quite a ride to go through, and here’s what you need to know about the game itself (and why you should play it).
Meet Hytale, a (Mostly) Improved Version of Minecraft
Hytale has seen a tumultuous development period, and is finally out exclusively for PCs after years of waiting. This sandbox game began development in 2015 by Hypixel, which was then a Minecraft multiplayer server.
The game initially started with some funding from Riot Games (mostly well regarded for League of Legends and Valorant), before being ultimately completely acquired by Riot Games in 2020.
Unfortunately, Hytale was canned by Riot in June 2025, much to the dismay of many. Months passed, and the project’s original founder, Collins-Laflamme managed to pull a surprising comeback by purchasing the game in its entirety from Riot Games, resuming its development.
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Riot seems to be very supportive of the whole matter, even congratulating Hytale on its early access launch.
The game is currently out in early access for PCs (Windows, Linux and macOS), but future console versions of the game are planned.
As far as gameplay is concerned, it is basically a procedurally generated open game world, known as ‘Orbis’. It’s takes inspiration (that’s putting it lightly) from Minecraft, but features a bunch of quality of life improvements, competitive game modes and far more build freedom.
Like in the original Hytale server, players can participate in a variety of minigames and share mods with custom content.
I’m sure that Hytale has a lot more fun features in store for us, given that the game is currently only in early access, though it is not purchasable on Steam, which seems like a glaring oversight.
