Riot Just Cancelled Hytale After 7 Years, Here's What Happened...
Yep, it’s official. After seven years of development, multiple engine rewrites, internal playtests, and one of the most promising indie trailers in sandbox gaming history, Hytale has been cancelled.
The announcement dropped today from Hypixel Studios, confirming that the project is done and the studio itself is winding down operations over the next few months.
So... what actually happened?
A Quick Backstory (If You Forgot This Game Existed)
Back in 2018, Hytale looked like the next big thing. Think Minecraft with better combat, actual quests, mod tools built right in, and some heavy RPG vibes. The trailer exploded online. People were genuinely hyped. And when Riot Games bought Hypixel Studios in 2020, it seemed like the project had all the funding and support it needed to actually ship.
Instead, the game slowly faded from public view.
The Delays That Killed It
What killed Hytale wasn’t a lack of interest. It was the scope creep and constant rebuilding.
By 2021, the devs basically scrapped their original engine and rebuilt the entire game in C++ to make it cross-platform. That meant every milestone reset. In update after update, the team kept saying, “We’re getting closer,” but beta kept getting pushed again and again.
Even earlier this year, the studio said the game was playable internally and was getting closer to testing phases.
Then today, out of nowhere, cancellation.
The Official Statement
In their words:
“This is not the outcome any of us wanted. But after long consideration, we’ve made the incredibly difficult decision to stop development on Hytale and begin winding down Hypixel Studios.”
The message makes it clear this wasn’t about Riot pulling the plug abruptly. It sounds more like the internal team decided they couldn’t bring it to the finish line.
The Takeaway
Hytale had a massive following, real promise, and legit talent behind it. But passion projects like this are hard. Especially when you try to make everything from scratch.
We’ve seen it before. Scope balloons, timelines stretch, and suddenly the game you set out to build isn’t something you can deliver.
No beta. No early access. Nothing ever released.
So Now What?
If you’ve been waiting on Hytale all this time, yeah, it’s a gut punch. Seven years of dev, and it’s over before anyone could even touch it.
There’s not much left to say except this was one of the most anticipated games that never was.
We’ll be watching to see if any of the team spins off into something new. But for now, the book on Hytale is officially closed.
