Fans disappointed about the cancellation of Hytale are petitioning the powers that be in an effort to get some form of the procedurally generated sandbox RPG out to the public, and it’s closing in on 1,600 signatures gathered so far. Publisher Riot Games and developer Hypixel Studios have been flagged in the petition, along with Hypixel founder Simon Collins-Laflamme, but no responses have been received from any of those parties yet.
Created by a successful team of Minecraft modders, Hytale was revealed in late 2018. With intentionally blocky visuals that aped Minecraft‘s signature style, the game showed a lot of promise, exciting fans by prioritizing its roleplaying format over survival-heavy elements, and promising the addition of creation tools for letting players design their own custom in-game content.
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But those fans were in for a major let-down, as earlier this week, Hypixel announced the cancellation of Hytale, along with the winding down of the fledgling development studio. Shortly following that announcement, one fan started a petition on Change.org, asking for Hypixel or Riot Games to provide its loyal fan base with any playable build of the canceled game. As of now, the petition has garnered 1,582 signatures and counting, though none of the creators have issued an official response via the website.
Fans Try to Salvage Hytale Through Online Petition
The lengthy development cycle of Hytale coming to so abrupt an end has drawn plenty of responses from potential players, who are making their voices heard through the petition website. One fan who has been following development since the game’s announcement said they drew inspiration and determination at the thought of the game’s eventual release, but felt broken following its cancellation. Another, an online video creator, has made and shared Hytale content over the years, and is more saddened by the loss of the game’s community than the game itself. Still, releasing an unfinished build of the game seems contrary to the wishes expressed by the team in the cancellation announcement, which stated that reducing the game’s scope or adjusting its timelines would have produced a product that didn’t match the team’s vision and “wouldn’t have been the game you deserve.”
Even if the petition successfully gets fans a chance to play an incomplete build of Hytale, it’s highly unlikely that the official development cycle will be resumed. Hytale‘s initial release window was pushed back for the first time in late 2019, with developers realizing the “massive” scope of the path they had laid out for themselves. In an address to fans earlier this week, Hypixel co-founder NoxyD called game development “brutally hard” and noted that after a lengthy development cycle, the game was nowhere near where it needed to be to meet the team’s ambitious expectations.
- Date Founded
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September 1, 2006
- Headquarters
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West Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States
- Subsidiaries
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Riot Forge
- Known For
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League of Legends