Hytale
Developer(s)Hypixel Studios
Publisher(s)Hypixel Studios
Director(s)Aaron Donaghey

William Fisher

John Hendricks
Platform(s)
Genre(s)Sandbox
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Hytale is an upcoming sandbox game by Hypixel Studios. Production began in 2015 by developers from the Minecraft multiplayer server Hypixel with funding from Riot Games, who later bought the studio in 2020. It is scheduled to release for Windows and macOS operating systems, as well as consoles and mobile devices.

Gameplay

Hytale features a procedurally-generated fantasy world composed of blocks of numerous shapes arranged in a three-dimensional grid, featuring different biomes, creatures, and dungeons.[1] Players can participate in minigames similar to those found on the Hypixel server.[2] Players will be able to build and share mods and custom content using a set of browser-based and in-game tools.[2][3]

Hytale includes several procedurally-generated areas of the world known as "zones", made up of many biomes and mobs.[4] This mode will feature RPG-styled combat and include dynamic boss encounters and dungeon exploration. Hytale will feature block-based construction and includes many different world editing and cinematic tools players can use in-game.[4] It will feature a scripting system that allows players to create and execute code in-game, as well as a web-based 3D modeling, texturing, and animation toolkit based on CraftStudio which players can use to create custom assets for the game.[2] The game will feature both official and community-run servers[2] with the ability to implement custom features and minigames including player versus player (PvP) games.

Development

Hytale is being developed by Hypixel Studios for PC, consoles, and mobile devices.[1][5][6] The client was initially developed in C# with the server technology in Java,[7] but in 2022 Hypixel Studios announced that both the client and server would be rewritten in C++ for easier cross-platform release and better performance.[8] Directed by Aaron Donaghey, the Northern Ireland-based studio consists of over forty employees[9] who split off from Hypixel Inc., the company behind the development of the Hypixel server in Minecraft.[10][11] Development of Hytale started in early 2015.[12] The idea for Hytale arose due to EULA changes by Mojang in 2014 which blocked servers from having microtransactions that affected gameplay, leading to an 85% drop in the Hypixel server's revenue.[1] The developers realized they were not in control of their project and decided to make their own stand-alone game.[13][14] They originally wanted to avoid making a voxel-based game, but eventually decided to do so as they had experience in that genre from the Hypixel server in Minecraft.[1]

Hypixel Studios was at first self-financed with revenue generated by the Hypixel server. The studio subsequently received support from Riot Games, which invested several million dollars in the studio,[15][16][17][18] along with an advisory group that includes businessmen Dennis Fong, Rob Pardo, and Peter Levine.[15] The studio was fully acquired by Riot Games in April 2020.[19] Hytale was announced via a trailer in December 2018, with it amassing over 31 million views within a month.[20] The game, originally intended to be playable in 2021, was delayed due to an increase of the game's scope.[8]

Reception

Hytale was nominated in the Most Wanted Game category at the 2019 Golden Joystick Awards but lost to Cyberpunk 2077.[21] The game was also named the most anticipated at the 2021 Northern Ireland Game Awards.[22]

Notes

  1. ^ Also planned to be released for consoles and mobile devices, with details to be announced

References

  1. ^ a b c d Simpkins, Jen (24 February 2020). "First Look: Hytale is putting adventure and creativity at the heart of its ambitious block-building sandbox". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Walker, Ben (11 February 2019). "Hytale Interview - Hypixel Studios Talk Modding, Post-Launch Plans, and Minecraft Origins". DualShockers. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  3. ^ Pearson, Craig (21 August 2019). "Cosplay as a cat and more with Hytale's mod tools". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on 14 September 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Hypixel's Hytale nominated for Most Wanted Game Award". Northern Ireland Screen. 25 September 2019. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  5. ^ "Game developer Riot Games acquires Hypixel Studios". www.spglobal.com. S&P Global. Archived from the original on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  6. ^ Hytale Team. "Summer 2021 Development Update". hytale.com. Archived from the original on 1 July 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  7. ^ "An overview of Hytale's server technology". Hytale. Archived from the original on 2022-05-21. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
  8. ^ a b "Summer 2022 Development Update". hytale.com. July 22, 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-09-28. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  9. ^ "Our team". Hypixel Studios. Archived from the original on 2022-07-21. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  10. ^ Cartmill, Claire (21 April 2020). "Videogame developer Hypixel Studios to set up NI headquarters". News Letter. Archived from the original on 14 January 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  11. ^ Phillips, Tom (13 December 2018). "Hytale is a brand new game from giants of the Minecraft community, backed by Riot". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 13 December 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Hytale is a brand new game from giants of the Minecraft community, backed by Riot", Eurogamer, 13 December 2018, archived from the original on 2018-12-13, retrieved 2019-11-03
  13. ^ "Hytale is a Minecraft follow-up that remembers the Minigames". RockPaperShotgun. 20 December 2018. Archived from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Hytale is a brand new game from giants of the Minecraft community, backed by Riot", Eurogamer, 13 December 2018, archived from the original on 2018-12-13, retrieved 2019-11-03
  15. ^ a b Jarvey, Natalie (13 December 2018). "Riot Games Leads Investment in Hypixel Game Studio". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  16. ^ Fogel, Stefanie (13 December 2018). "Creators of Popular 'Minecraft' Server Announce New Game 'Hytale'". Variety. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  17. ^ Takahashi, Dean (13 December 2018). "Beware, Minecraft and Roblox. Here comes the blocky world of Hytale". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  18. ^ Tarason, Dominic (13 December 2018). "Hytale is a blocky sandbox RPG spawned from a massive Minecraft server". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on 13 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  19. ^ Webster, Andrew (16 April 2020). "Riot continues to expand beyond League by acquiring studio behind Minecraft-like game". The Verge. Archived from the original on 16 April 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  20. ^ Fischer, Tyler (12 January 2019). "First Trailer of 'Minecraft' Inspired Game 'Hytale' Has 31 Million Views In Less Than 30 Days". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020.
  21. ^ "Golden Joysticks Awards 2019". Games Radar. Archived from the original on 17 October 2019.((cite magazine)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  22. ^ "NI GAME AWARDS 2021: WINNERS". Northern Island Screen. 9 March 2021. Archived from the original on 24 September 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.

External links

Riot Games
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