Hytale Fans, you are very welcome here!

[Tyron]

Dear Hytale Community,

as many of you might have read by now, Hytale has been officially cancelled. Our heartfelt compassion goes out to those that were looking forward to its release, as well as to all the developers working at Hypixel Studios. 

As a former Hytale developer myself, allow me to openly invite everyone left unsatisfied by this news to try out Vintage Story! While it may not be quite the same experience you would have hoped, do keep in mind that our game allows a great range of customization options to reduce some of the more difficult settings that Vintage Story ships by default.

In fact, if you are one of the former developers or a highly passionate Hytale fan with extensive modding skills, do write us at jobs@vintagestory.at. Perhaps we can put together 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. I could picture this as a mostly independent work group developing a new playstyle or an external team that uses our extensive modding api with funding from us.

Due to the massive success Vintage Story has become and with the right leadership, I believe this would be something very achievable!

For our existing player base: Don't worry, the default experience of Vintage Story will stay true to its vision and updates will come at the same pace.

[Update, June 26] We've already received over 20 applications, including several high profile ones. This seems to look promising to me. We'll collect more applications for another week and then begin processing them - for all applicants, please stay tuned!
 

Cheers,
  Tyron

 

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[Deleted User 28517]

@Tyron

That’s very kind of you, but honestly, the game is far too grind-heavy for casual players. You practically need to be unemployed just to keep up or dedicate a solid 8 hours every single day if you want to make any real progress or build something meaningful and that’s coming from someone who already has over 1,000 hours in this game.
Also, the content development in Vintage Story is very slow. (If I’m counting correctly, we might get the full lore by 2030 or 2035 at this update pace.)

Vintage Story is an amazing game I truly love it but it’s definitely not designed for casual gamers. Most of my friends would much rather jump into creative mode than spend endless hours grinding, especially since most of them have full-time jobs and families.

 

Edited June 24, 2025 by ArtemisRM

[FlareUKCS]

@ArtemisRM I respectfully disagree...

I watch a few recent MC vids and it seems the idea is to make the game more, not harder per se, not more complicated, just more as in there is something lacking. 

For some of those the slow but meaningful progress is good, as in it is kind of hard but not crazy hard, just means you potter about and slowly pick at the progress. The hardest part is really making a farm to keep the animal alive, you are such a beast

I mean if you get a farm going the rest is something you can do at your time, heck I played a time where I had ores and food for days but come winter I was skating on the pond, tossing snowballs at the dummies or jumping on my bed, I was fed just the winter was tough for me at the time. I like this as winters are usually a time of boredom, or a time where you make time for the crazy stuff... I was the best at tossing snowballs at my dummies, not one could beat me...wait I am not crazy, hey come here.. where you going

[FlareUKCS]

I should add that I think Hytale prospective players may find Vintage Story a close and friendly option to try out, the game is not just a clone, its much much more, a game that loves detail, you can jump on a bed and it will make you hop, you can skate on ice, you can grab snow and toss it at dummies... there is a lot more, I just dont want to ruin the fun.

One piece of advice , dont punch a tree

Welcome to all, we love to have you.

[Guimoute]

As someone with a bit more than 1000 hours (year 15!) in a single, permanent world, I agree it takes time to build something significant but that point of view neglects an important thing: getting there is already playing. Surviving your first few weeks, eating cattail roots because you don't recognize berry bushes yet, finding your first seeds and eating grain raw while you clumsily make a "farm" inside an existing lake... that doesn't leave any mark on the world but that's joy. 

[Thorfinn]

3 hours ago, ArtemisRM said:

You practically need to be unemployed just to keep up or dedicate a solid 8 hours every single day if you want to make any real progress or build something meaningful and that’s coming from someone who already has over 1,000 hours in this game.

This is probably true if you go into the game with a construction megaproject already in mind, like a pink marble Colosseum with cinnabar accents, where the challenge is finding enough of the rare stones. Maybe even a Colosseum of local stone, if you intend to do a lot of chiseling. That can take almost as much time as you want to give.

But progress in general? While I don't do much in the way of animal husbandry unless it's handed to me on a platter, or learn whether my orchard took, or build a home with more than utilitarian chiseling, I sometimes have to be imaginative to find a way to make the game last much past 50 hours. Including full steel armor and equipment and more machinery than you can shake a stick at.

Yes, 50 hours might seem a lot to work around with a family and a job, but, really, it's just a couple hours of unwinding before bedtime for a month or so. And if you are lucky, the wife and kids will want to play, too.

[fromtia]

I play a bit here, a bit there sometimes for a few hours at a time, I'm 55 with a full time job, a house remodel and so forth  and I feel like Im doing a great job at progressing and just loving every minute of it. My fortified Bastide on a hill by the lake is starting to look pretty great in Year 2 I think!

[FlareUKCS]

I am 52, mentally broke from a job that nearly killed me, and I love VS for all its trials and tribulations.

The way I see it its like a railway model, you start with a basic kit and have a basic train running on a basic line, then you add lines, you work in schedules, add trees and terrain and over years you have a scene setup, its not work as you slowly picked at each part, adding a bit here moving something there. This is VS to me, picking at the progression... never in for long enough to be a grind but still going forward, step by step... and enjoying each step.

[Rhyagelle]

A shame about Hytale. I have been looking forward to it since its announcement. I feel so bad for all of the developers who poured their everything into it over the years.

12 hours ago, ArtemisRM said:

@Tyron

That’s very kind of you, but honestly, the game is far too grind-heavy for casual players. You practically need to be unemployed just to keep up or dedicate a solid 8 hours every single day if you want to make any real progress or build something meaningful and that’s coming from someone who already has over 1,000 hours in this game.
Also, the content development in Vintage Story is very slow. (If I’m counting correctly, we might get the full lore by 2030 or 2035 at this update pace.)

Vintage Story is an amazing game I truly love it but it’s definitely not designed for casual gamers. Most of my friends would much rather jump into creative mode than spend endless hours grinding, especially since most of them have full-time jobs and families.

 

Keep up? You speak about Vintage Story like it is some MMO. This is not something you should be playing in that kind of mindset. I have 2hrs every other day to game, and I do just well on Vintage Story. This game was never supposed to be as simplistic and easy as something like Minecraft either. It is supposed to give you actual reward for your work, and greater artistic freedoms. Which it does splendidly. I think you bought into the game with wildly incompatible expectations. 

And I am the furthest thing from a "hard core" gamer and I can play this game just fine. I think you are greatly underestimating what people are capable of playing in games, or what they may enjoy. After all, almost the entirety of Minecraft players play with extensive mods, some of which adds the most autistic forms of upgrade tiers and mechanics known to man.

[YuYo]

I'd love to help, I'll pick back up my programming skills for this

[CipherStormwolf]

When they were bought by China via Riot Games (Tencent) I stopped following them as that was a sign that the project was gonna fail. They held out quite long I have to admit.

 

Please Hytale fans come to this game, it has a somewhat steep learning curve but it also has a handbook. So just go into your first character without big plans and go for it, check everything out. When you have a grasp for the game go into the game with bigger goals in mind like building a proper house or exploring really far out > 30 something kilometers is what I did, it was pure horror when I ran out of food on my way back (thanks berrybushes for keeping me barely alive!) but I found so many amazing things!

 

Hope you will find a home here! Welcome.

[LadyWYT]

13 hours ago, Thorfinn said:

Yes, 50 hours might seem a lot to work around with a family and a job, but, really, it's just a couple hours of unwinding before bedtime for a month or so. And if you are lucky, the wife and kids will want to play, too.

I'll also note that if you're playing cooperative multiplayer with a friend or two, you can split up tasks to accomplish more things in a shorter time. Plus if one or two of those friends plays a little more regularly, they can knock out some of the more grindy work while the others are offline, if they're willing that is. This is usually how it goes with my friends--it's not unusual for me to take care of a lot of the grind since I generally have more time, but it sometimes goes the other way around as well. 

For singleplayer, there are game settings and mods to help speed up(or slow down) parts of the game as one desires. Based on default settings and what the devs themselves have stated about the intended future of the game, an average Vintage Story world should take about 100-200 hours of time to complete, roughly. Granted, I believe that is the rough estimated time to complete the entire planned story, which isn't yet fully implemented. For what the game is now, you can probably complete a world in about 50 hours of playtime, assuming you know what you're doing and push for progress at a brisk pace.

Overall though, the game is intended to be something you take your time completing, not something you just start and finish on a weekend afternoon. In my opinion, those who rush to complete the game are going to be missing out on a lot of what makes Vintage Story so special.

[Maelstrom]

1 hour ago, LadyWYT said:

In my opinion, those who rush to complete the game are going to be missing out on a lot of what makes Vintage Story so special.

^^^THIS^^^

edit - I'm looking at you @Thorfinn  

Edited June 25, 2025 by Maelstrom

[NyeteyN]

That's really nice, even though I'm not entirely sure how a secondary mode base on hytale would even work (is it going to add magic, random overworld bosses or bigger dungeons?). But I would love to see it happen

[LadyWYT]

1 hour ago, Maelstrom said:

^^^THIS^^^

edit - I'm looking at you @Thorfinn  

I mean, it wasn't exactly a dig at Thorfinn.  There's definitely a genre of players that enjoy speedrunning. I was referring to the player type that seems to expect to be able to complete the entire game in an afternoon or two, and brand the game as "bad" if they're unable to do that. Games that can be completed quickly are perfectly fine and can be fun, but that's not the kind of game that Vintage Story wants to be.

[Maelstrom]

I was just poking fun at my friend.  It seems like he enjoyed the brotherly ribbing based on his reaction.

[Thorfinn]

3 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

In my opinion, those who rush to complete the game are going to be missing out on a lot of what makes Vintage Story so special.

There's certainly some truth to that, but a man's gotta know his limitations. I do a lousy job chiseling, and I don't enjoy it, so that's not an option. I'm way too Type A to twiddle my thumbs doing nothing waiting for sheep to domesticate. Similar with orchards. I'll get a decent one going, maybe 100 trees or more, but I don't have the patience to do nothing while waiting to see if they vernalized. Why would anyone want a farm greater than around 800 TP? Or a stack of steel ingots taller than a redwood? Sometimes as many as a dozen helve hammers?

I'd just rather start again and play the fun parts. It's either that or switch to a different game, which I have been doing a lot of lately.

[Hafthohlladung]

I would be surprised if most of the dedicated Hytale followers weren't already playing Vintage Story anyway.

As for the ones that showed a more casual interest, perhaps not.

[defal]

NGL, I have been playing VS for about a month now, and am very sad about the cancellation of Hytale.

But sadly, I do agree with the users here that mentioned their growing worries after the Riot partnership. 

I do enjoy Vintage Story not only because of the game but for it's ease of access. I just bought  the game, download the launcher and it works. No need for a confusing login scheme, no need for extra downloads (unless for Community made Mods ofc), just click-click-click and play. This was how Minecraft was back in the day, and I love the simplicity that Vintage Story gives to the ever growing Launcher Infested hell hole that is modern gaming.

Hytale could have all of that, it could've been a simple game that could've been expanded later, but sadly it got lost somewhere.

I'm happy with Vintage Story so far and with it's development. I hope it continues that way. Hope the game continues "100% indie" as the site proudly proclaims it. (and it should!) 

[Arcane Gunslinger]

ECO, I think, would have the best synergy with the Vintage Story team, but that's probably dreaming lol

You’ve already built a beautiful foundation for a survival experience. From here, the next natural step is evolving into something broader, something focused on rebuilding civilization itself. That’s where long-term engagement and a wider audience could really come into play.

Imagine systems for land claims, geopolitics, and regional economies. Think of trade routes forming between settlements, players establishing kingdoms, or even small-scale conflicts arising over resources. Picture-rich farmland being claimed for agriculture, or high-value mining areas becoming contested zones. You could create entirely new gameplay loops by building mechanics specifically around these ideas, rather than trying to retrofit them into the existing survival systems.

Resource transportation could be expanded, too. Roads would matter, carts or pack animals would be essential, and logistics would become strategic. The environment itself could become dynamic, with migrating herds, dwindling animal populations due to overhunting, or localized extinctions that shift the survival balance and push players to move or adapt.

All of this opens the door for a different kind of story. Not just surviving the wilderness, but navigating relationships, politics, and economies. The interpersonal aspect could become just as important as the environmental challenges.

Now, about magic, while classic fireball-style fantasy doesn’t feel like a natural fit, a more grounded form of mystical influence could. Something like seasonal or ritual magic, tied to agriculture, animal health, weather, or even safety from wild creatures. You already have systems for seasons and celestial events, so magic based on timing or star alignment could feel like a natural extension of the world. Picture rituals held during certain moon phases to bless a harvest, or using carved stones to ward off predators during a migration season.

I know this might drift a little from the core conversation, but it feels like a strong direction. You're sitting on a foundation that’s perfect for moving from micro-level survival to macro-level worldbuilding. And that shift could be what brings players in not just to survive, but to shape the world itself.

[Khornet]

@Tyron
Now would be an excellent opportunity to poach some talent for Anego Studios... 
I'd personally very much love to see the way trees were done in Hytale implemented in Vintage Story.

[Omega Haxors]

An alternate game mode would probably bring me back as a modder. Almost all of my frustrations come from the design and code quality of Survival Mod, so having a better coded game mode with more of a focus on fantasy (I think 90% of Immersive Phototrophy was spent doing research to make sure it was realistic) would do a lot to entice me to return. The game's depth isn't the problem, it's got plenty of that to spare. It's the lack of breadth. There's not really a lot of room to add just filler content without it completely changing the way you play, and if there's a mechanic you don't particularly enjoy, tough s. You gotta do it. It makes sense for a Survival game mode, but most people are going to be turned off by that. Adding new playstyles is exactly what the game needs, especially if features from other game modes can start leaking in to survival if they prove inoffensive enough to include.

Edited June 27, 2025 by Omega Haxors

[CasperGamingOne]

I can see an official game mode can be achieved or even a game with the same engine; it will be mostly vintage with rpg stuff
Best Move 

 

Edited June 28, 2025 by CasperGamingOne

[Ves]

I'm disappointed Hytale will be no longer, but I'm glad you're here.

[MagpieOAO]

Good to hear maybe devs will be getting a new home with you! 

As for the topic of the game being too grindy; 

What is grind? A repetitive task towards some kind of goal that takes a while. Ok but look at any athletic sportsball game, all people do is run back and forth down a court. If you describe it that way, sure it's the MOST boring gameplay imaginable, and most of the time you don't even have a ball! What!?!? 

But we know a game is more than its constituent parts. 

Yes it takes a lot of time to accomplish things in Vintage story that in other games wouldn't take as long and they're more complex and ingame more resource intensive, but rather I feel this grants more accomplishment in even mundane tasks. I play pretty casually probably averaging 8 hours or so across the week. First world and it took me 60 + hours to get to bronze. But it actually feels like I've done something rather than just punched trees to get a pick to get coal to get copper in about 30 minutes.