The long-awaited sandbox adventure is set to welcome its first players.
Hytale isn’t even out yet, but it’s already proving to be a financial hit. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Hypixel Studios founder Simon Collins-Laflamme revealed that pre-purchases for the Minecraft-inspired sandbox RPG have already generated enough revenue to cover the next two years of development costs. Collins-Laflamme added: “combined with my personal commitment of 10 years, we are looking very strong for the future.”
The announcement comes just ahead of Hytale’s early access launch, which is expected to attract over one million players. While the game is far from finished, the early demand shows just how eagerly the community has been waiting for it.
Hytale is currently available through three pre-purchase options: the Standard Edition costs US$23.99, the Supporter Edition US$41.99, and the Founder's Edition US$83.99. Collins-Laflamme also confirmed the Hytale team has grown to “50+ or so” developers, signalling a serious rebuild of the project after years of uncertainty.
Hytale has enough funding to keep development moving
The financial milestone is particularly striking given Hytale’s long and often turbulent development history. Announced in December 2018, its trailer quickly went viral, racking up more than 62 million views on YouTube. Hytale promises a sandbox world with RPG depth, offering block-by-block building, scripting tools, minigame creation, and extensive modding possibilities.
The hype around Hytale was further bolstered by the team behind it. Hypixel Studios was founded by the creators of Hypixel, one of the largest Minecraft servers in the world. Riot Games invested in the project and eventually acquired the studio in 2020.
However, development slowed under Riot’s ownership, with only a few development updates reaching fans, followed by Riot eventually shutting down the project. In November, Riot confirmed it had sold the rights back to Collins-Laflamme, citing that this “gives players the best chance to one day experience a revised version of the game they’ve been waiting for.”
Collins-Laflamme quickly rehired many of the original developers and ramped up development, though this raised concerns about whether the game would be ready for early access. Hypixel Studios later addressed this, confirming that the early access build launching on 13 January will be rough, with bugs and technical issues expected.
Players joining early access will also have the opportunity to mod and provide feedback, helping shape the game as it evolves toward full release.
With funding for at least the next two years already secured, Hytale now has the resources to grow steadily and fulfil its potential. Hytale is available for pre-purchase on the official Hytale website.
