Hytale Early Access: Release Date, Price, Features, and Everything You Need to Know

After what feels like an eternity of anticipation and setbacks, Hytale is finally making its way to players' screens. The upcoming sandbox adventure game from Hypixel Studios has had quite the rollercoaster journey, and now we know exactly when we can get our hands on it.

Hytale will launch into early access on January 13, 2026, with pre-orders already open as of December 13, 2025. This announcement comes after a dramatic turn of events where Riot Games cancelled the project back in June 2025, only for the original founders to swoop in and revive it by November 2025. Talk about a comeback story.

The game promises to blend block-based building with RPG elements and extensive modding capabilities, essentially taking what made Minecraft great and adding layers of complexity on top.

According to the development team, this will be a "true early access" experience, meaning players should expect bugs, unfinished features, and a generally rough-around-the-edges product. The team isn't sugarcoating things here, which is refreshing in an industry where overpromising has become the norm.

What You'll Pay

Hypixel Studios has structured the pricing to be accessible while giving players options to support development at different levels. The team has committed to keeping the base price "as aggressively low as possible" to attract a wide audience.

Standard Edition - $19.99 USD (€19.99 EUR)

• Full early access game access

• Three themed outfits

• One cape

• Basic cosmetic items

Supporter Edition - $34.99 USD (€34.99 EUR)

• Everything from Standard Edition

• Three unique outfits

• Matching capes

• Goggles

• Additional cosmetic items

Cursebreaker (Founders) Edition - $69.99 USD (€69.99 EUR)

• Expanded cosmetic sets

• Special founder-status items

• Premium-tier content designed for heavy supporters

According to Patrick 'Lyall' Derbic, Executive Director of Hytale, the studio plans to expand the content of each edition over time during early access. As he puts it, "While you are running around in-game, helping us make the game better every day, we need to make sure that you look good doing so."

The good news is that if you start with a lower tier, you can upgrade later by just paying the difference.

What's Actually in the Game

When Hytale hits early access, it won't be the complete package. The team is focusing on core mechanics first, with more elaborate modes coming later.

Available at Launch:

• Exploration Mode: This is your sandbox survival experience where you'll roam through Orbis, a procedurally generated world packed with diverse biomes, creatures, dungeons, and NPCs. Think Minecraft survival but with beefier RPG elements, including dynamic boss encounters, combat systems, looting, farming, and building.

• Creative Mode: For the builders out there, this mode removes all resource limitations and threats. You'll get powerful landscape sculpting tools, block-by-block construction options, and world editing capabilities with a user-friendly interface. Flying and explosive effects are included for maximum creativity.

• Modding Tools: Right from day one, players can dive into modding with extensive tools to modify assets, create custom content, and run servers. You'll be able to edit character models, event triggers, and server-side content using tools like Blockbench for models and animations.

• Custom Servers: Host private or public servers supporting both vanilla and modded gameplay. Server hosting providers like PebbleHost and Shockbyte will offer optimized Hytale server hosting from launch day.

Coming After Launch:

• Adventure Mode: A story-driven RPG experience with complex progression systems, planned once the core mechanics are polished.

• Minigames: Official Hypixel-style minigames similar to those on the legendary Hypixel Minecraft server will be developed by a dedicated team post-launch.

Modding Takes Center Stage

If there's one thing Hypixel Studios is going all-in on, it's modding support. The team has roots in the Minecraft modding community, and they're bringing that philosophy to Hytale in a big way.

At launch, players can mod almost everything including server-side content, character models, textures, animations, and game logic. The Hytale Asset Editor supports most asset types, while Blockbench integration allows creation of compatible models, textures, and animations. There's also an internal editor for world generation, creative brushes, and NPCs, though it's being released in an unfinished state for early access.

Java plugins will be available for those with programming skills, though a sandboxed scripting system is planned for safer and more accessible modding down the line. Derbic emphasized their commitment to modders, stating that official avatar cosmetics is "the one area we reserve for ourselves for now, though we might involve the community later." Modders can still create visual mods like furniture, pets, hats, and cosmetics, but players need the mod installed to see them.

Interestingly, Hypixel Studios is taking zero percent cut from third-party servers and modders who want to monetize their work for the first two years. After that, they promise the cut won't exceed 20 percent, and according to reports, they hope to keep it much lower for self-sustaining servers.

Platform Availability and Distribution

Here's where things get a bit limited. Early access is Windows-only for now. The decision to revert to the Legacy Engine (C#/Java) accelerated the release but limited initial platform support.

Mac and Linux support is planned but not guaranteed for early access, with the team attempting to add these platforms later without specific dates confirmed. Console versions for PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch are long-term goals, likely coming after full release.

Interestingly, Derbic also confirmed Hytale won’t be supported on Steam at launch, with the intention to avoid “overindexing on negative reviews from players that aren’t as well-informed yet about what we are doing.” The game will be available through the official Hytale website.

The Road Ahead

Hytale's development journey has been nothing short of tumultuous. Starting in 2015, the game exploded into public consciousness with its 2018 trailer that racked up over 60 million views. But high expectations led to delays and an ambitious shift to a C++ engine under Riot Games that ultimately didn't pan out.

Now, with founders Simon Collins-Laflamme and Philippe Touchette personally funding the project for the next decade and over 50 developers on board, the team is taking a more pragmatic approach. They're being brutally honest about the game's current state, with Derbic noting they've themselves been "giving game negative reviews for the past few weeks" and consider honest feedback critical to development.

The early access period will be crucial. Success hinges on whether the modding community can fill content gaps and whether the studio can deliver on promised features like Adventure Mode and Minigames while maintaining their community-first approach. It's a risky strategy, prioritizing speed over polish, but at least they're transparent about it.

For anyone interested in jumping in early, pre-orders are open now with username reservation included. Just remember what the team keeps emphasizing: this is going to be rough, janky, and unfinished. If that doesn't sound appealing, maybe wait a bit. But for those willing to be part of the journey from the ground up, January 13, 2026, can't come soon enough.