Hypixel Studios, developers of the upcoming blocky sandbox RPG Hytale, have been acquired by League of Legends publisher Riot Games, it was announced today.
The studio, based in the Northern Ireland city of Derry, is currently working on a Minecraft-like community sandbox game but with more of a roleplaying slant on the blocky builders formula.
Today's acquisition comes after Riot was one of the original founding angel investors of Hypixel Studios in 2018. Since then the company has gathered more than 2.5 million sign-ups for Hytale's beta and the trailer above has 55 million views, suggesting there is still a lot of interest in cuboid build-em-ups.
“We’ve known the team behind Hypixel Studios for several years, and from the start they’ve been the kind of visionaries that we aspire to support; a passionate studio committed to delivering a groundbreaking, genre-defining experience for players,” said Dylan Jadeja, President of Riot Games.
“Over the last 18 months, we’ve been fortunate to advise Hypixel Studios as they build toward their vision for evolving a game genre that reaches an incredibly diverse range of players around the globe. Now, as they prepare to enter the next chapter, we’re thrilled to take our partnership to the next level through this acquisition. We look forward to supporting Hypixel Studios’ journey through the development process, helping them grow, and learning from them as well.”
The acquisition marks the latest step in Riot's diversified portfolio, with tactical FPS Valorant's closed beta currently garnering millions of views on Twitch and card game Legends of Runeterra releasing to positive critical reception earlier in the year.
Hypixel will now expand with 20 new positions and a new permanent office in Derry, Northern Ireland, as they work towards release on Hytale which is currently expected in 2021.
