Riot Games is shutting down Hypixel Studios, which spent the past decade working on Hytale, a Minecraft clone that will never see the light of day. The studio's CEO, Aaron Noxy Donnelly, announced this in a post on social media.
The development of the Hytale sandbox began back in 2015 by a team that was working on its own multiplayer server for Minecraft called Hypixel. In 2018, the developers showed a trailer announcing the game and promised to release it in 2021, but that did not happen then.
In April 2020, Riot Games acquired Hypixel Studios and continued to promise a 2021 release, but the release was later pushed back to 2023. After that, there were no further updates regarding a possible launch date.
“This is not the outcome that any of us at Hypixel or Riot wanted. But after years of pushing forward, adapting, and exploring every possible avenue, it became clear that we couldn’t bring Hytale to life in a way that met expectations…” says Donnelly. “Our technical ambitions became more complex, and even after a significant engine reboot, the team found that Hytale still wasn’t as far along as it needed to be.”
He also noted that Hypixel realized that it would take much longer to fully complete the game. The team even considered reducing the studio staff, postponing the release yet again, and abandoning certain elements in order to complete Hytale on a decent level. In addition, Riot tried to help the developers find new investors and sources of funding, but these attempts were in vain.
Interestingly, back in March, Hypixel released updates on the development status of its project and even hinted that active testing with players might begin soon, but that didn't happen either.
Finally, Donnelly noted that Riot will also support the team with "generous exit support and resources to help them find their next project." He also notes that the multiplayer server for Minecraft is not going anywhere.