Hytale has released its first extended gameplay showcase since the game’s dramatic revival announcement earlier this week. Titled “Breaking the Curse | New Hytale Gameplay (16+ Minutes)”, the video features over sixteen minutes of unfiltered, in-engine footage, revealing the current state of development as the project enters its next phase under the leadership of original co-founder Simon Collins-Laflamme.
Unlike traditional trailers or vertical slices, this video was intentionally created as a raw development snapshot. According to Simon, the footage was recorded in a single morning and assembled without post-production enhancements. No cinematics. No scripted sequences. Just Hytale as it currently exists.
A Look at the Legacy Engine
The footage runs on the original legacy engine first shown in the 2018 reveal trailer, using a four-year-old internal build that the revived team has been working to stabilize and expand. Simon acknowledged that the game shown is far from complete, describing it as “raw and broken, but still beautiful.”
Despite that honesty, the video showcases Hytale’s core identity:
- Large, hand-sculpted environments
- Basic combat encounters
- Terrain generation and biomes
- Environmental lighting and atmosphere
- Early animation systems
The goal here was not perfection, but transparency.
A Promise Kept
The gameplay release comes exactly one day after Simon publicly confirmed that Hytale had been reacquired from Riot Games and would continue development as a fully independent project.
In a statement shared alongside the video, Simon said:
“I promised players videos, screenshots and blog posts. One day after the acquisition, I’m keeping that promise. Now that you’ve seen the first gameplay footage in a long time, I’m heading back to work on the early access launch. The team will share more clips and screenshots as we go.”
He added that releasing this footage was personally important to him, describing it as an effort to “break the curse” surrounding Hytale’s long silence and development struggles.
“Breaking the Curse”
The name of the video represents more than just marketing. It speaks directly to the emotional weight the project has carried since its original momentum slowed, then collapsed.
For years, Hytale fans were left with minimal updates, uncertain direction, and ultimately news of its cancellation. Now, with the original creator taking full control again, this video marks a visible shift toward transparency and consistency.
Simon closed his message with a nod to the community that stuck around through it all:
“Stay tuned, Cursebreakers. More is coming.”
What This Means for Hytale
While no early access date was confirmed in the video itself, Simon reaffirmed that:
- Early access is actively being worked toward
- More gameplay clips and development updates will follow
- The project is entering a stage of more open communication
This approach closely mirrors early indie transparency rather than traditional AAA PR cycles, something many long-time Hytale supporters have been asking for since the beginning.
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