Over 1 million players expected: New Minecraft-style sandbox MMO enters Early Access

Hytale is a highly anticipated title among both Minecraft and MMO fans. It is being developed by Hypixel, a studio that emerged from the popular Hypixel Minecraft server community. Development began in 2015, with the studio officially founded in 2018. Visually, the game features Minecraft’s familiar voxel style, enhanced by higher resolution and more detailed environments. At its core, Hytale combines classic sandbox freedom with structured MMO and RPG elements.

Hytale’s world is procedurally generated, featuring a wide range of zones and biomes alongside classic sandbox mechanics such as gathering, crafting and building. At the same time, the game offers structured content including dungeons, ancient ruins, factions and boss fights, giving it a strong MMO identity. Multiplayer is a central focus – in addition to solo and co-op play, Hytale will support large servers, community-created content and custom game modes. Combat is designed to be deep and versatile, featuring melee and ranged weapons, magic, special abilities and dodge mechanics.

More than ten years after development began, Hytale enters Early Access today, January 13, 2026, at 3 p.m. UTC. Simon Collins-Laflamme, co-founder and CEO of Hypixel Studios, urged players on X yesterday to download the launcher in advance to avoid “launch-day stress.” The developers expect more than one million players at release.

Early Access via the official Hytale website

Hytale is currently not available on Steam. Early Access is exclusively accessible via the official Hytale website. The Standard Edition costs $23.79 and includes full Early Access as well as the first set of exclusive cosmetic items. The Supporter Edition, priced at $41.64, and the Founders Edition “Cursebreaker,” priced at $83.29, both include additional exclusive cosmetics.