
It's a tough time to be the rival of a monopolistic, genre-defining giant. Sims rival Life by You was abruptly cancelled in 2024, inZoi reviews aren't exactly glowing, and Palworld is changing its mechanics amid its Nintendo lawsuit. Still, despite the historical challenges, one of Hytale's original developers wants to buy back the canceled Minecraft-inspired survival game from League of Legends owner Riot and has already outlined a roadmap.
Hytale was cancelled because studio Hypixel "couldn’t bring Hytale to life in a way that truly delivered on its promise." Founder Simon Collins-Laflamme said he believed the game was "maximum two years away from a PC release" over five years ago before the studio was sold to Riot. Now, Collins-Laflamme has laid out how he'd bring the game back to life.