This Week in Hytale: Apr 10 - Apr 17, 2026

No blog posts from the official team this week, but plenty happened anyway. Friends lists finally dropped in pre-release, a shameless copycat hit the Switch eShop (and got immediately lawyered), and the community kept building weird stuff. Let's break it down.

Friends Lists Are Finally Here

The big update this week was friends lists going live in pre-release. You can now see when friends are online, jump into their worlds, send invites, or join whatever server they're playing on. Simon announced the feature earlier in the week, promising it would drop within days.

True to his word, the April 16 patch notes confirmed friends lists and rich presence were live. This is just the first wave of social features. More are coming, though Simon didn't specify what or when.

KweebecCorner jumped on it immediately, posting a tutorial video explaining how to add friends. The feature seems straightforward: no reinventing the wheel, just a solid implementation of what people expect.

Server Discovery Opens Up

Right alongside friends lists, Simon teased server discovery features. Applications will open soon for servers that want to be featured in the recommended list. This matters for anyone running a server or planning to. Getting featured early could mean serious player traffic once the full release hits.

KweebecCorner called it out as a big deal for the server ecosystem, and he's right. Discoverability has always been a struggle for smaller servers in games like this. A curated list could level the playing field a bit, assuming the selection process stays fair.

The Switch Copycat Disaster

Someone had the audacity to release a game called "Hytale: Sandbox RPG" on the Nintendo Switch eShop this week. Not inspired by Hytale. Not a spiritual successor. Just straight-up using the Hytale name to sell a completely unrelated game.

Hypixel's legal team is handling it, according to a statement picked up by IGN. The news spread fast. AUTOMATON, GosuGamers, Nintendo Life, and several others covered it.

"Hytale Dev Says Copycat for Sale on Nintendo eShop is 'Being Handled by the Legal Team'"

The Hytale subreddit caught wind of it quickly, with players asking if it counted as copyright infringement. Yes. Obviously yes. It's textbook trademark violation at minimum.

GoNintendo and OpenCritic both confirmed the story with additional coverage. GamerBraves and MSN picked it up too. The coverage was universal: this was brazen and dumb.

Hopefully Nintendo pulls it fast. The eShop has had quality control issues before, but this one's particularly egregious.

Community Highlights

People kept building cool stuff this week despite the lack of official updates. Someone's working on a Pokémon battle system in Hytale. Early footage looks promising. Turn-based combat, creature models, the works. GAMINGbible even called Hytale a "Pokémon PC Alternative" in their coverage. Bit hyperbolic, but the project has potential.

A backpack mod showed up on Reddit courtesy of someone's boyfriend. Functional storage that doesn't break immersion. Simple but effective.

One player shared their log cabin interior, complete with furniture placement that actually looks livable. Another posted about simple immersion elements like ambient sounds and lighting tweaks.

There was also a kid's drawing of what a fossil creature might look like and some toilet paper physics because why not.

The Create Mod Team Joins Hypixel

Buried in the news cycle: Hypixel hired the creators of Minecraft's Create mod. Games.gg reported it this week. Create is one of the most technically impressive mods in Minecraft, focusing on mechanical systems and automation.

This hire signals where Hytale's headed. More complex systems, deeper mechanics. If the Create team brings even half their design philosophy to Hytale's modding tools, the community's going to build some wild stuff.

Simon's Health Update

On a more personal note, Simon posted about the toll the past year took on his health. Constant crunch to save the game, rebuild the team, and secure funding left him burnt out.

He's focusing on recovery now that the game's financially stable through release. Good. Burnout in game development is real and destructive. Hopefully he actually takes the time instead of jumping right back into the grind.

He also posted about introducing his kids to Star Wars, so at least there's some work-life balance happening.

Random Stuff From Twitter

KweebecCorner kept the hype train rolling with clips of football in Hytale before the World Cup. Simon also posted a mysterious link with zero context that just says "https://t.co/ADQ46IoMst" and nothing else. Classic Simon.

What's Next

Friends lists are live. Server discovery is coming soon. The copycat game will probably get nuked. Simon's taking care of himself. The community's building Pokémon battles and backpack mods.

Not a bad week, all things considered. No major announcements, but steady progress. Sometimes that's enough.