Vintage Story aims to save a piece of Hytale by hiring former Hypixel developers to create a new 'Adventure Mode' for the hardcore survival game
PC Gamer's super-survivalist Chris Livingston called Vintage Story his "new survival game obsession" in 2024, noting that it "looks like Minecraft but is way more complex." It wasn't new new, having been in development since 2016, but it was new to him (and us), in part because it's not available on Steam, and thus has remained kind of under the radar.
It's back in the spotlight now thanks to the recent cancellation of a different Minecraft-lookin' game, Hytale, which was prematurely ended by Riot Games in June. Shortly after it was cancelled, Vintage Story team lead Tyron, a former Hytale developer themselves, invited former Hytale developers to reach out about the possibility of creating "a small sub-project within our Team of developers to bring out an additional game mode for Vintage Story that can at least in part deliver on the vision of what Hytale set out to become."
In an update posted over the weekend, Tyron confirmed that the effort is moving ahead, "We've carefully thought about our options, budget and potential risks," Tyron wrote. "We'll be starting small (3 to 4 people) and expand once the project shows merit and gathers interest. A small team might be slower, but is also much more manageable, more effective and can pivot quicker. Slow growth allows us to fund this truly for the long term. And thankfully, we can re-use a lot of the Vintage Story ecosystem."
As for the team's vision for the new mode, Tyron said it will be "significantly" different from Vintage Story itself, "more focused towards fantasy and adventure/rpg-y compared to the gritty, realism based nature of the current experience." It will initially be offered as part of Vintage Story at no extra cost, but may ultimately be spun off into a standalone project if it "really takes off."
An FAQ addresses a number of concerns Vintage Story fans have about the new project, primarily to reassure everyone that adding a Hytale-inspired game mode won't be a drain or a drag on the core project. It also explains why Tyron believes the Vintage Studio effort can succeed where Hytale itself failed even when backed by years of Riot money, including a sustainable approach to development—"We don't live off of debt!"—and a willingness to ship "imperfect, flawed products and improve [them] over time."
"When I worked for Hytale in 2015 I really felt their passion for what they are working on," Tyron wrote. "The team there really believed in the work they did. It was also this very experience that gave me the confidence to start Vintage Story in the first place. It was Noxy that saw my work on worldgen and handed an olive branch to me—believed in my skills to work on their project.
"Vintage Story might have never seen the day of light without Hytale. Now it is my turn to hand them an olive branch. It is the least that I can do."
This isn't the only effort to resurrect Hytale in some capacity. Hypixel Studios co-founder Simon Collins-Laflamme said last week that he will reach out to Riot about acquiring the rights to the game and resuming development.
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