Hytale was a sandbox game by Hypixel Studios. Production began in 2015 by developers from the Minecraft multiplayer server Hypixel with funding from Riot Games, who later bought the studio in 2020. It was planned to release for Windows and macOS before being cancelled in June 2025.
I joined the project at the end of 2023 as a Technical Design Intern over the period of 1 year and later moved on to a full-time position of Technical Designer (G1) over the period of 8months ending when the studio closed in June 2025.
Working at Hypixel Studios I had the opportunity to work with a multitude of talented game developers, from Hypixel (Minecraft Server) veterans to AAA industry engineers.
My role as a Tech Designer involved close collaboration with Engineers & Designers but also gave me opporunity to work closely to support other disciplines such as Art, Audio, Production and Level Design.
During my time at the studio I:
- Worked with the Tech Art team to improve the workflow of our artists by contrinbutring to the development of Third Party Software and Plugins.
- Worked within a multi-discipline Feature Team to build the Capital and Player Island multiplayer experiences with an emphasis on social play.
- Worked within a multi-discipline Feature Team with close alignment from Designers to build combat related multiplayer experiences.
- Worked within a small Technical Design focused team to deliver functional combat gameplay experiences.
- Worked within a small multi-discipline team to develop core gameplay loops, such as initial crafting recipes, block breaking configurations and early-game tools / weapons.
- Developed rudimentary python-based tooling for converting content between two Propietary Engines for the Level Design team.
- Participated in two annual internal creative jams with colleagues to build gameplay/minigame experiences in both the Legacy & New engine.
- Presented to the Design team internally on the topic of Game Jams
- Hosted & Organized weekly internal multiplayer team play-tests for the Capital & Player Island experiences
- Wrote GROW documentation for various technical requirements highlighted by the Design teams needs for gameplay.
- Performed technical explorations for various workflows & needs for both internal developer workflows and future-facing UGC creator workflows
- Contrinbuted towards a Technical Documentation Strike Team effort representing my discpline team (Technical Design).
- Exposed C++ code to Luau via the engines Scripting API
“In Hytale, the heart of online social play is a shared space called the Capital. This is where players from all parts of Hytale come together to make friends, share experiences, compete in minigames, discover new adventures, seek challenges, trade, show off pets and companions, and more. It's the home of adventurers, competitors, and creative players from across the breadth of the game.”