Hi! In this update, we're going to take a look at some of the progress we've been making in the first months of 2025, before looking ahead to the aspects of Hytale that we'll be playtesting internally over the course of this year. After that, it's time to finally reveal a new character that we teased back at the end of 2023 – a new addition to an old faction that is the reason our Executive Producer hasn't been able to show his right leg in public for the last couple of years...

Engine Progress

Our rendering team has been steadily re-establishing – and in many cases improving upon – atmospheric features from our previous engine. In the clip below, you can see one of our test scenes shifting from night to day, with marked improvements to our trees (branches are back!), shadowmaps, and skybox.

In the next clip, we explore the same scene – and the area around it – in Creative Mode, showing off an early version of our new flying animations before landing and stepping into a cave.

Steady improvements across many areas of the engine are allowing us to bring an increasing number of gameplay systems online in preparation for...

Internal Playtesting in 2025

Over the years that Hytale’s engine has been in redevelopment we’ve relied on various forms of prototyping to continually push the design of the game forward. It has been exciting to see these systems coming online this year, just in time for internal playtesting.

We started with the fundamentals – systems like core movement, block placement, combat, and crafting, supported by a refreshed approach to inventory and hotbars.



On the creative side of things, we’ll be testing the process through which players configure their custom worlds, adjusting the variety of parameters that determine the content they’ll experience either as creators or adventurers. We’ve been implementing creator-focused features like block selection, copy/paste, and undo/redo, too – and we’re hoping to get as far as testable versions of logic blocks, and blocks impacted by physics, in time for the first external creator team to test them out later this year.

For Orbis, we’re on track to deliver adventure gameplay centered around fundamental lifeskills like cooking and smithing, along with a revamped and expanded approach to POIs and encounters.

We’re also hoping to deliver our first of several revamped ‘Regions’. Regions have replaced Zones as the way we approach designing each part of Orbis. Each represents a collection of three to five biomes with a cohesive theme that ties gameplay, creative direction, and narrative together. Regions are smaller than the old Zones, but there are more of them – and this finer degree of control allows us to give every part of the world a stronger sense of identity.

The first of these – Central Grasslands – represents the heart of what was once Zone 1. Here, players will find open prairies dotted with sparse forests and rocky outcrops. Rich in resources, this is the place where many journeys on Orbis begin. Trorks make their homes here, too – let’s hope Orbis’ most dangerous monster-hunters have their eyes set on bigger targets than our newly-arrived Avatars.

Beyond the Central Grasslands, we’ll be developing Regions that draw on aspects of the old Zones 1, 2, and 3 – from the Wild Savannah to the Boreal Frontier and the deep forests of Earthglade, where the single-minded aggression of the Trorks has steered them once again into the path of an old adversary…

A New Leaf (Or Two)

In our Winter 2023 update, we illustrated the sort of change that all of Orbis’ factions have undergone by introducing the reimagined Kweebec Treesinger. However, we intentionally skipped over a brand new stage in the Kweebec lifecycle…

Kweebecs begin as Seedlings, dropping from the branches of the Elders that reside at the heart of their villages. Like real seeds, young Kweebecs contain lots of potential – and Seedlings are particularly energetic, rushing around and often getting themselves into trouble. As they get older, this exuberance matures into an eagerness for adventure. Young Kweebecs roam beyond their villages in search of new skills and knowledge, learning about themselves in the process. These are the Kweebecs you already know – youthful treefolk on their way to becoming rooted Elders or sage Treesingers.

But we skipped a step.

When young Kweebecs return to their villages, they mature into a form that reflects all that they’ve learned about Orbis and themselves in the course of their adventures. Taking on new responsibilities, they become the artisans, cultivators – and sometimes warriors – that their villages need.

If you’ve ever wondered how a civilization of peaceful treefolk survived the challenges of Orbis’ history – from marauding Trorks to Varyn’s invasion – well, here’s how. Mature Kweebecs represent the midpoint between young Kweebec and Treesingers. They’re taller and heavier than their younger brethren, but stronger and more resilient. They occupy important roles in their villages, and no longer roam as much as they did. Instead, they act as both protector and tutor to more youthful Kweebecs – and our Avatars stand to benefit from their knowledge, too.

A few mature Kweebecs range further than the rest, however. These ones – called Razorleaves – delve into the depths of Orbis’ most dangerous forests in pursuit of threats to their home.

…and one of them, a few years ago, found itself tattooed on John’s leg.

A Note From John

Finally!

I can also say that about being past our big end-of-year ‘Blonks’ milestone and on to prepping for playtesting. Every month Hytale gets closer to the game we’ve dreamed of delivering. The Creative Play team has been making big progress and they are eager to be the first to playtest. They are going to have to move fast to stay ahead of the Adventure team, or the group prepping our next combat playtests, or the UX team working on inventory and hotbar upgrades… you can see why I am always so excited ;)

I hope you’ve enjoyed this quick update from the mines of Orbis,

John & The Team