Hytale Pre-Purchases Cover 2 Years of Development

The upcoming sandbox game Hytale has generated enough revenue through pre-purchases to cover the next two years of development costs. Hypixel Studios founder Simon Collins-Laflamme confirmed the financial milestone, stating the development team currently numbers over 50 employees.

The game offers three pre-purchase tiers: Standard Edition at $23.99, Supporter Edition at $41.99, and Founder's Edition at $83.99. This success follows a turbulent history involving a 2020 acquisition by Riot Games and a subsequent return of IP rights to Collins-Laflamme in late 2025.

Originally announced in 2018 with a trailer that garnered 62 million views, Hytale focuses on procedural generation and minigame creation. Collins-Laflamme has expressed frustration over previous development delays but emphasized a renewed focus on rapid iteration and gameplay features.

Hypixel Studios has announced that pre-purchases for the upcoming game Hytale have successfully covered development costs for the next two years. Founder Simon Collins-Laflamme shared this update through a social media post, highlighting the game's strong market reception prior to its official launch.

The studio currently offers three distinct pre-purchase options for interested players:

• Standard Edition priced at $23.99
• Supporter Edition priced at $41.99
• Founder's Edition priced at $83.99

Collins-Laflamme confirmed that the development team has grown to approximately 50 employees. He expressed confidence in the project's future, stating that the financial security combined with his personal commitment of 10 years positions the studio strongly for the future. The game is predicted to attract over 1 million players at launch.

Hytale has experienced a tumultuous development cycle since its initial announcement in December 2018. The game's trailer quickly gained popularity, accumulating 62 million views on YouTube and generating significant anticipation within the gaming community. The developers' background co-founding Hypixel, one of the most influential Minecraft servers, further fueled excitement.

In 2020, Riot Games acquired the studio and the Hytale intellectual property. However, development stagnated under the new ownership. In November 2025, Riot confirmed it had sold the rights back to Collins-Laflamme, citing a desire to give players the best chance to experience a revised version of the game.

Collins-Laflamme expressed strong emotions regarding the previous development period. "The game has insane potential, but four years of engineering went into rebuilding the engine rather than gameplay features," he stated. "That leaves us with a four-year gap and a lot of catching up to do, and that rebuilt engine is never gonna be used."

The developer described the game's state prior to his intervention as barely playable, with broken basics including camera, movement, combat, crafting, building, and the game loop. "It should have taken years to fix, but within weeks, we got the game into a playable, fun state," Collins-Laflamme noted.

Following the return of the Hytale IP, Simon Collins-Laflamme has outlined a new strategy focused on rapid development and player feedback. The developer emphasized that previous delays resulted in a loss of momentum and iteration cycles that are now critical to recover.

"When you don’t invest in gameplay, you don’t just lose time. You lose momentum, iteration, and player feedback," Collins-Laflamme explained. "Now the focus has to be on gameplay first and rebuilding trust by actually shipping things at a rapid pace."

The studio is now prioritizing the delivery of gameplay features over engine reconstruction. Collins-Laflamme has committed additional personal resources to the project, stating, "I’m committing more money, more time, and personal sacrifice to deliver the game this vision deserves." The goal is to make up for lost time while maintaining a steady release schedule to engage the waiting player base.