'Hytale' (Image: Riot Games)
The much-anticipated Hytale, a Minecraft-inspired sandbox RPG, is being sold back to the game’s original co-founder, Simon Collins-Laflamme.
For context, in 2018, a team of developers who created the immensely popular Minecraft server, Hypixel Inc., went on to create their own company, Hypixel Studios. They had announced that year that they were working on their flagship game, an RPG called Hytale. In 2020, Hypixel Studios was acquired by Riot Games, a much larger company known for developing League of Legends.
After years of being in development hell, Riot Games cancelled Hytale and began the process of closing down Hypixel Studios in June 2025.
In the aftermath of the game’s cancellation, a few ideas were circulating about how Hytale could be saved. Some looked to Eric Barone, creator of Stardew Valley, to pick up the game. Another idea was to rework it into a game mode for a fellow Minecraft-inspired game, titled Vintage Story.
However, we received news this month that Riot Games has sold the game back to Collins-Laflamme, the co-founder of Hypixel Studios.
On November 17, 2025, Collins-Laflamme posted to X: “We did it. Hytale is saved. We have acquired Hytale from Riot Games.”
On the official Hytale website, Collins-Laflamme announced:
“We are thrilled to announce that we have acquired Hytale from Riot Games… We are grateful to Riot Games for making this possible. Over the past few weeks, we have rehired more than 30 developers who know this game inside and out, with additional returns expected in the coming days. Together, we are going back to the original vision for Hytale. We are fully independent and personally committed to funding Hytale for the next 10 years.”
Riot Games confirmed this transaction on X, as well, replying to Collins-Laflamme, “After evaluating multiple offers, we’ve reached an agreement to return Hytale to @simon_hypixel, giving this community its best shot at experiencing a revised version of the game. Wishing the team the best of luck for what’s ahead.”
Another co-founder of Hypixel Studios, Noxy, also made his voice heard on X, stating that he is “extremely grateful that players will get to play Hytale.” He also said that the game is in the hands of Hypixel Studios’s original founders, and he wished them the best of luck. This has led fans to believe that Noxy, for whatever reason, will not be coming back to the project.
This decision seems amicable among the founders; however, Collins-Laflamme responded to him, thanking him for all his help in both creating Hytale and executing the deal that reacquired the property. Collins-Laflamme ended the message by wishing Noxy the best in whatever he takes on next.
On hytale.com, Collins-Laflamme announced that content would be released over the next few days to keep fans engaged. He listed, “Gameplay footage and screenshots (unpolished, as-is), detailed patch notes from our recent work, modding capabilities and roadmap blog post, pricing details for different editions, plenty of updates and communication and early access release date.”
On the site, he urged the loyal followers of the game to “play early access (even when it’s rough), report bugs and give honest feedback, create mods and content, be patient when things break and trust the long-term vision and make guides and share knowledge with others” to help finally build the Hytale they have always envisioned.
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