Minecraft modders form Hypixel Studios
Riot Games and former Blizzard exec Rob Pardo among initial investors as new developer announces debut title
A team of community modders for Minecraft have banded together to form a fully-fledged games studio.
Hypixel Studio is the new company from the team behind the Hypixel server network, one of the most popular independent Minecraft servers.
The developer was founded with the help of an investor group thast includes Riot Games, ex-Blizzard exec Rob Pardo, Pardo's fellow Bonfire co-founder Min Kim, pro-gamer Dennis 'Thresh' Fong, university professor Anthony Borquez, and investors Peter Levin and Jeff Lo.
Some of these investors have formed an advisory group to guide the studio forward.
Hypixel is already hard at work on its first project, Hytale. This will be a sandbox roleplaying game complimented by a mini-games platform and a variety of accessible tools enabling users to create and customise their own content for the game.
Work on Hytale actually began in 2015 -- two years after the Hypixel server network was established -- and was initially funded by the success of the servers, before the team sought the investment needed for the transition from modders to development studio.
"Founding Hypizel Studios is a huge step forward for our team, and it wouldn't have been possible without the support of Riot Games and our advisory group of investors," said co-founder Simon Collins-Laflamme.
"We feel very lucky to have built relationships that not only fund the development of Hytale, but provide us with insight and advice that will be instrumental in making Hytale as good as it possibly can be."