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Hypixel Studios

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hypixel Studios
TypePrivate
IndustryVideo games
Founded18 October 2018[1]
Founders
Key people
ProductsHytale
Number of employees
70+[2] (2026)
ParentRiot Games (2020–2025)
Websitehypixelstudios.ca

Hypixel Studios is a Canadian-Irish video game developer known for the sandbox game Hytale. It was formed in 2018 as a spin-off of Hypixel Inc., the company behind the Hypixel server for Minecraft, and was backed and later acquired by Riot Games. Riot cancelled Hytale and began closing the studio in June 2025; later that year co-founder Simon Collins-Laflamme reacquired the game and revived the studio, which released Hytale in early access in January 2026.

History

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Origins and founding

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Members of the team behind the Hypixel Minecraft server began developing Hytale in early 2015.[3] The project's origins lay in 2014 changes to Mojang's end-user licence agreement, which barred Minecraft servers from selling purchases that affected gameplay and cut the Hypixel server's revenue by 85 per cent, prompting the team to pursue a game of its own.[4][5]

Hypixel Studios was established as a spin-off of Hypixel Inc. to develop the game, and was registered as a Canadian corporation on 18 October 2018.[6][7][1][8] Hytale was announced publicly on 13 December 2018, alongside an investment of several million dollars led by Riot Games and an advisory group that included Dennis Fong, Rob Pardo and Peter Levin.[3][9][10] The game's announcement trailer drew more than 31 million views within a month.[11] Collins-Laflamme later said the studio had been spending up to US$400,000 a month on development and had turned down larger offers from another company before partnering with Riot.[12]

Riot Games ownership

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Riot Games acquired the studio outright in April 2020.[13][14][15] The Canadian-Irish studio then employed more than forty people, and it announced a permanent headquarters in Derry, Northern Ireland, with twenty new positions in back-office and quality assurance roles.[4][6][16][17] The studio was led by co-founder and chief executive Aaron "Noxy" Donaghey, with a leadership team that included Sean McCafferty; both are natives of Derry.[6][18][19] A British legal entity, Hypixel Studios Limited, had been incorporated in Northern Ireland in February 2020.[20] More than 2.5 million people had signed up for Hytale's beta by the time of the acquisition,[16] and by June 2023 the studio had grown to more than 110 employees.[21]

Under Riot, Hytale, originally intended to be playable in 2021, was repeatedly delayed as its scope grew, and former developers later criticised the project's ambitions as unrealistic.[12][22] The game was also migrated between engines, with a replacement engine built from 2022 ultimately abandoned.[23][24] On 23 June 2025, after ten years of the game's development, Donaghey announced Hytale's cancellation and the closure of the studio, citing its overly ambitious scope.[18][25][26] Some of the studio's former developers were subsequently hired by Anego Studios, the developer of Vintage Story, to work on a standalone game inspired by Hytale.[27][28]

Revival

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On 17 November 2025, Collins-Laflamme announced that he had reacquired Hytale from Riot Games, and the studio was revived with more than 30 rehired developers and further hiring planned; the returning founders promised ten years of support for the game and a return to its original vision.[29][30][31] According to the studio, its original founders had not been involved with the project since 2020, and following the reacquisition it operates as an independent, self-funded company under the name Hypixel Studios Canada Inc.[7][24] Collins-Laflamme and co-founder Philippe Touchette fund the studio personally, with a stated ten-year funding commitment and no external investors or publishers.[24] Hytale entered early access on 13 January 2026 and passed one million players shortly after launch.[32][33] Collins-Laflamme said shortly before launch that pre-orders alone had funded the studio's roughly 50-person team for the next two years of development.[34]

Following the release, the studio ran the game's first official modding competition with CurseForge in early 2026, offering US$100,000 in prizes;[35] by then players had created more than 5,000 mods for the game, downloaded over 20 million times on CurseForge.[36] In June 2026 it announced "Hytale Shared Source", a programme giving licensed players access to the game's server source code, network protocol and assets.[37] By March 2026 the team had grown to more than 70 people, drawn largely from the game's modding community.[2][38] In July 2026 the studio previewed Chapter 1, the game's first major content expansion.[39][40]

Games

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Year Title Platform(s) Notes
2026 Hytale Linux, macOS, Windows Early access

References

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  1. 1 2 "Hypixel Studios Inc. — Federal corporation 11052110". Corporations Canada. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  2. 1 2 Collins-Laflamme, Simon [@Simon_Hypixel] (5 March 2026). "Over the last few months, most of the people we've brought onto the team (now over 70) have been people we already knew, respected, and saw building amazing things, especially in the modding community" (Tweet). Retrieved 19 July 2026 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  3. 1 2 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 19 July 2026.
  4. 1 2 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 19 July 2026.
  5. ↑ "Hytale is a Minecraft follow-up that remembers the Minigames". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. 20 December 2018. Archived from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 "Hypixel Studios to establish headquarters in Derry~Londonderry with support from Riot Games". Northern Ireland Screen. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  7. 1 2 "About Hypixel Studios". Hytale. Hypixel Studios. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  8. ↑ "Hypixel Studios Inc. — Corporation 11052110". Federal Corporation Information. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  9. ↑ 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 19 July 2026.
  10. ↑ "Creators of Hypixel, the world's largest mod server, establish Hypixel Studios with support from Riot Games and an advisory group of industry veterans" (PDF). Hypixel Inc. 13 December 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. 1 2 Bailey, Dustin (27 June 2025). "Hytale studio founder says he was "burning" up to $400,000 a month on its development at one point, and turned down "way more money" before partnering with Riot". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  13. ↑ 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 19 July 2026.
  14. ↑ "Riot Games acquires Hytale developer Hypixel Studios". Game Developer. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  15. ↑ "Riot Games Acquires Hypixel Studios". Los Angeles Business Journal. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  16. 1 2 "Riot Games acquires Hytale developer Hypixel Studios". PC Gamer. 16 April 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  17. ↑ 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 19 July 2026.
  18. 1 2 Donaghey, Aaron (23 June 2025). "A Difficult Update About Hytale". Hytale. Hypixel Studios. Archived from the original on 23 June 2025. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  19. ↑ "Aaron 'Noxy' Donaghey". D.I.C.E. Summit. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  20. ↑ "Hypixel Studios Limited — overview". Companies House. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  21. ↑ "Studio growth and project progress: an update from Noxy and John". Hytale. Hypixel Studios. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  22. ↑ Bailey, Dustin (1 December 2023). "After 8 years, the Minecraft-inspired Hytale is still in the prototyping phase, and fans are running out of patience". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 13 December 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  23. ↑ "Summer 2022 Development Update". Hytale. Hypixel Studios. 22 July 2022. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  24. 1 2 3 "Hytale is saved!". Hytale. Hypixel Studios. 17 November 2025. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  25. ↑ Gerblick, Jordan (23 June 2025). "6 years after an announcement trailer with 61 million views, Minecraft-inspired survival game Hytale is canceled and its developer is shutting down". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  26. ↑ "Why Riot Canceled Hytale And How It Came Back To Life". GameSpot. 14 January 2026. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  27. ↑ Warren, Mark (7 July 2025). "Vintage Story's devs are trying to save some of cancelled Hytale's soul by turning it into an adventure mode". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  28. ↑ "Development update, September 2025". Vintage Story. 4 October 2025. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  29. ↑ Chalk, Andy (17 November 2025). "'Hytale is saved': Riot sells cancelled game back to original co-founder, who promises to take it 'back to the original vision for Hytale'". PC Gamer. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  30. ↑ "Hypixel acquires Hytale back from Riot Games". Game Developer. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  31. ↑ ""Hytale is saved": Riot sells Hytale back to Hypixel founders, who promise 10 years of support, an early access date soon, and a return to the "original vision"". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  32. ↑ "Hytale Early Access Begins". Blue's News. 13 January 2026. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  33. ↑ "Hytale's Early Access surges past 1 million players as $19.99 sandbox RPG returns from the brink". Notebookcheck. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  34. ↑ "With less than 24 hours to launch, Hytale lead says the sandbox game's 50-person dev team has been funded for the next 2 years through pre-orders alone". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  35. ↑ "Hytale Announces Modding Contest With $100K Prize Pool On Offer". GameSpot. 4 March 2026. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  36. ↑ "Hypixel Studios and CurseForge launch $100,000 modding contest for Hytale creators". PocketGamer.biz. 3 March 2026. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  37. ↑ @Hypixel (23 June 2026). "Hytale Shared Source - Our Plan: We're releasing the full server source, the protocol, and all Hytale assets, even the stuff that never shipped!" (Tweet). Retrieved 19 July 2026 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  38. ↑ "Hytale lead says they're pushing for modding in part because they 'hire from the community': 'We're building a scrappy, agile team full of people who actually make things'". PC Gamer. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  39. ↑ Collins-Laflamme, Simon (16 July 2026). "First Look: Chapter 1 and More". Hytale. Hypixel Studios. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  40. ↑ Allsop, Ken (18 July 2026). "Our first glimpse at Hytale Chapter 1 has me absolutely salivating". PCGamesN. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
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