Previously, we reported on a claim suggesting that Hytale had reached 2.8 million players on release day based on an in-game chat message attributed to Hypixel Studios co-founder Simon Collins-Laflamme. That figure quickly spread across the internet, fueling further discussion about the scale of the sandbox game’s launch. We admitted the mistake, and since then, a Hytale subreddit moderator has stepped in to clarify the situation — stating that the screenshot was not legitimate.
“For a short period of time you could join any server with any username you wanted. It has already been patched,” reads Moderator BreeZaps’s pinned comment. “But yes this comment is fake.”
Apparently, a bug in the system lets players join servers using any username they can think of. That means any random internet troll was able to easily pass off as Simon and write made-up claims for a brief period of time. Before the patch, there was no safeguard to make sure the exact same names could be used at the same time.
“How the table turns….” UpsetPause5613 chimed in. “Got downvotes like hell when i said this was fake lmao.” Meanwhile, other curious Redditors keep getting restless about the actual player count. “How many players are there?” asked Luc-redd.
That clarification effectively puts an end to the 2.8 million concurrent Hytale player count claim — at least for now. After all, there is still no official milestone announcement straight from Simon or Hypixel Studios itself. Nor is any third-party tracking service available to independently verify player counts.
That said, this doesn’t mean the hype train for Hytale is slowing down. Simon has continued to acknowledge the game’s strong reception following the launch. In a recent X post, he wrote:
“Waking up to thousands of videos and screenshots of Hytale is surreal. We got a long way to go to achieve our goals with the game but I’m happy to see the positive reaction, I was not expecting such support and understanding! I was reading feedback & suggestions earlier and lots of it is already planned so nothing surprising and make me feel very confident about the future 😊”
He has also addressed the game’s long-term stability. On January 12, Simon confirmed that Hypixel Studios has secured funding for the next two years of development through Hytale pre-purchases alone.
“Pleased to announce that we have officially secured the next two years of development costs through pre-purchases. Combined with my personal commitment of ten years, we are looking very strong for the future ❤️”
Let’s do some quick math. Hypixel Studios’ official site suggests it has roughly 40-60 developers currently working on Hytale. We can assume the studio needs at the very least $15 million to cover two years of salaries and overhead. That’s $90,000–120,000 per year for each developer in an international studio.
Nevertheless, it’s selling directly through their own launcher and skipping the 30% cut from platforms like Steam. That means, it might’ve already sold around 1 million copies across its three Early Access editions — even before the January 13 launch date — to hit that ballpark.
While Hytale may not have actually reached a 2.8 million concurrent player count, the bigger picture remains clear. Interest around the game is high, community engagement is strong, and its development appears financially secure. Whatever the exact numbers are, this Minecraft competitor doesn’t look like it’s losing steam anytime soon.
