Minecraft Competitor Drops First Major Update, Free to Download
Minecraft competitor Hytale has just dropped its first major update, here is everything you need to know about what’s in it.
Releasing into early access on 13 January, Hytale has seen a lot of hype over the years thanks to its history as a competitor to Minecraft, coming from the original creators of the Hypixel server team.
Although it was cancelled in June 2025 after ten years of development, the rights were acquired from Riot Games in November and development was restarted, with an early access launch earlier this month.
Hypixel Update 1 Includes Many New Features And Bug Fixes
“Welcome to the first Hytale update!” reads the blog post for Update 1 on Hytale’s website. “Today, we are releasing new content alongside a range of fixes and quality-of-life improvements. We are committed to maintaining a rapid patching cadence to address issues and improve the game as quickly as possible.”
The update adds dinosaurs and other NPCs to populate underground jungles, but Hypixel states that these have “placeholder behaviours” at the moment.
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The update also adds “atmospheric effects and creature spawns” to Devastated Lands sewers, as well as “Fixed entity placements, textures, and interiors”.
Meanwhile, NPCs that did not previously have knockback resistance have had it added, while fire-themed NPCs and creatures should now be immune to fire damage (but will still catch fire for now). Skeletons are also now immune to water damage, while Kweebecs are immune to the environmental damage caused by cactus and brambles.
In addition to that, some big changes have been made to other enemies and NPCs. The Crystal Earth Golem's combat behavior and spin attack have been improved, and proper loot tables to Kweebecs and Trorks in the Whisperfrost Frontiers have been added.
The update also adds a whole host of new character customisation features, like new options for eyes, mouths, and hair colour. There are also reworked hairstyles and clothing options.
On the audio and visual side of things, new hit and break sounds for stone and ores with additional layered effects have been added, and pitch variation on sword swings have been reduced, so you don’t have to worry about any more loud swinging noises.
There’s a lot more to this update than that though, so if you find yourself downloading the update right now and are curious about what’s in the update, head over to the official website and read it for yourself.