Hytale’s once-doomed status has been redeemed after just one day in early access, with a shocking number of players around the world logging on for the Minecraft-like experience.
On launch night, there were reportedly 2.8 million users playing Hytale, according to an in-game message posted by CEO Simon Collins-Laflamme. That’s nothing to scoff at, and while the game is in very early access and is a massive work-in-progress, the base foundation is already quite strong.
My personal favorite feature in the game, and one that many others are enjoying as well, is The Forgotten Temple. Found very early on in any playthrough, this location functions as a sort of codex where players are rewarded for exploration and discovery to record “Memories” and rank up.
The area is still under construction (there are several areas blocked off with “work-in-progress” signs), but there are NPCs, merchants, and other things to discover within. And according to Collins-Laflamme, it was his idea to add the temple in, and for good reason.
“I had to find a way to motivate players to explore, and NPCs were already somewhat spawning everywhere and could be easily tuned,” he said in a reply on Twitter/X. “I figured it would be fun to tie it into the lore of restoring the memories of Orbis to bring it back. Decided to then remake the temple, put the memories in there and have players find it within the first 15-30 minutes of gameplay to give a sense of ‘oh, ok, this is an RPG as well.'”
Logging new Memories, which include animals and other monsters, rewards players with new crafting recipes and upgrades to continue and enhance their journey, and Collins-Laflamme also called it “a bit of our community center/quest hub that will evolve over time.” This makes it feel like the lore is in there, even though the game’s story mode is not quite ready yet, and has begun the worldbuilding from the beginning.
When it comes to survival games, I often lose interest quickly. But in Hytale, the incentive to explore, interact, battle, and discover has me ready to dig in for some lengthy play sessions as I get immersed in the world around me. It feels less like a sandbox and more like a world to learn about, and I love it so far.
Hytale is off to a raucous start, with Collins-Laflamme saying yesterday that the amount of pre-orders alone will fund the next two years of development on the game. There are already dozens of mods available for players to customize the game, as well, and that number will exponentially grow over time.
This is just the beginning, but with a foundation as solid as this one, Hytale fans could be in for several more years of fun.
Published: Jan 14, 2026 09:45 am