Riot Games is closing the studio behind Hytale, its Minecraft-like game that has been in development for nearly a decade. Hypixel Studios, which Riot acquired in 2020 for an undisclosed sum, is shutting down “over the next few months,” according to Hypixel CEO Aaron “Noxy” Donaghey. That beta never arrived, and in 2021 there was a major change to the game engine powering Hytale that set development back. ”It became clear we’d need a lot more time to get it to a place where it could support the ambitious vision for the game.“The Hypixel closure won’t affect the Hypixel server on Minecraft, which is run separately from Hypixel Studios. Despite the studio closure, Donaghey says he’s “deeply grateful to Riot” and that the team is being “supported with generous severance and resources to help them find what’s next.”