Hytale expects over 1 million players at early access launch, founder says development was “incredibly difficult”
Hytale is due to enter early access on January 13, 2026, and Hypixel founder Simon Collins-Laflamme says the studio expects “over 1 million players” when that happens. The figure comes from Collins-Laflamme’s post on X, where he also reflected on the toll development took.
IMPORTANT
We expect over 1 million players on the early access release day for Hytale (January 13). Please download the launcher today and log in now to help us significantly reduce launch-day stress. Let us know if you are having any issues.
Download now:… pic.twitter.com/kiMYIkKmJI
— Simon (@Simon_Hypixel) January 11, 2026
Collins-Laflamme wrote that the past months were “incredibly difficult” for his family because he was away rebuilding the game and the team seven days a week. He added that he missed family milestones and promised to “spend more time with them when the game is stabilized after launch.” He closed that thread with a short line: “No sacrifices, no Hytale.”
Players should expect traffic and teething issues at launch. Hypixel has advised fans to download the launcher and sign in ahead of time to reduce friction on day one. The studio also confirmed that Hytale will not appear on Steam at launch, a choice meant to keep early reviews from overindexing on uninformed impressions; more on that is available in the studio’s FAQ and our coverage of the decision about skipping Steam at launch.
The game’s road here has been unusual. Hytale survived a Riot acquisition and then a cancellation in June 2025 before Collins-Laflamme and his team re-acquired the project and pushed it toward an early access release. Whether the servers cope or not, the story behind getting Hytale this far is already part of its launch narrative.
Follow updates on the launch and how the servers hold up across our social channels: X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram.
Hytale
Developed by Hypixel Studios
