The people behind one of Minecraft’s most popular community servers are now bringing their expertise to an original game: Hytale. The game’s blocky aesthetic and construction abilities will certainly look familiar to Minecraft fans, but developer Hypixel Studios has plans for a more expansive RPG quests and bigger options for community servers and moddability. The company has secured hefty outside investments to bring this project to life, and Riot Games is among those investors.
Hytale will have three “main pillars,” according to the developers. Adventure mode will have you advancing through a story in whatever playstyle you like – whether you want to be a simple settler or a more hearty adventurer. The procedurally-generated world will have zones and biomes with unique wildlife and handcrafted locations to discover. You can play this all either solo or in co-op.
The second big component is minigames, including the tools for creators to build their own – ranging from camera position to game assets and basic mechanics. Hypixel remains notable among the best Minecraft servers for its wide array of minigames, and the team is leveraging that experience here to provide even better support, on both official and community servers.
“Creative tools designed for all types of content creators” round out the trio of main focuses, including mod support, scripting, cinematic tools, and even the full set of editors used to create the game. You can see plenty more detail on what the team has in store via the official website.
“We initially approached Riot Games (developer and publisher of League of Legends) for advice back in 2016,” the studio says in an announcement. “After all, they know what it takes to grow a successful studio with its roots in a modding community. Those initial conversations developed into a shared enthusiasm for what we are creating. As of today, we’re thrilled to announce that Hypixel Studios has launched with Riot Games as an investor. We consider ourselves very lucky to have established this relationship as we embark on this new chapter of our journey.”
While Hypixel has offered plenty of detail on what to expect from the game, the FAQ is light on info about release info and price. There are only the vaguest hints of a release date – don’t even expect a specific year – and we don’t know if this will be a premium or free-to-play title. It will launch on Windows and Mac PCs, and you’ll be able to run servers on Linux.