Hytale's Next Major Update Promises Dungeons and Other Huge Changes

Published Sep 25, 2026, 10:06 AM EDT Elijah is a freelance news writer at Polygon. He was an associate editor at The A.V. Club and Paste, and has been featured in outlets like Game Informer, Fanbyte, Unwinnable, and more. He loves media in all forms, from fighting games and horror flicks to slow cinema and visual novels. He's from the Greater Boston area. The sandbox game's Chapter 1 patch just got an impressive new trailer Image: Hypixel Studios Sign in to your Polygon.com account The Minecraft-like sandbox game Hytale has been off to a strong start. After Riot canceled the game in June 2025, its original creator, Hypixel Studios, bought back the rights and launched it in Early Access this January. Hytale has apparently exceeded the studio's own expectations, which is impressive given its lead designer, Simon Collins-Laflamme, said he expected the game to hit over 1 million players on release day. Hytale has received numerous smaller patches over the last few months, but its biggest update yet is just around the corner. Chapter 1 is out on Oct. 12, 2026, and it has a major focus on handcrafted encounters and goblins. What's coming with Hytale's chapter 1 update? The trailer introduces the game’s first handcrafted dungeon: a subterranean goblin cavern. If players get to the end, they will find a flamethrower-wielding mecha goblin boss with multiple phases. The blog post announcing the update explained that the boss works thanks to the new Encounter Manager, which enables Hytale’s devs and players to design encounters and boss fights. For context, one of the game’s main features is that users can heavily modify their own servers and create custom content. The system is apparently so robust that one player made a mod that basically turned the game into Pokémon FireRed. As for other updates coming with Chapter 1, it will add Goblin Breaches, world events that create a temporary portal to faraway biomes full of loot. Several handy goblin gadgets are coming as well, including rocket boots, gliders, drills, and a hookshot. Lastly, a new rune and ability system seems like a major shake-up. You can equip an ability rune and then modify that ability with two modifier runes: a diagram shows the fireball ability rune being augmented with two modifiers, one that adds a shock effect and another that splits the fireball in two. “We want RPG-style depth without giving up the freedom of a sandbox, and runes open up options with multiple valid playstyles rather than funnel you toward one optimal build or a rigid, predefined class or archetype,” the developer blog post reads. Despite Hytale’s undeniable resemblance to Minecraft, Hypixel Studios seems to be trying to set the game apart with its emphasis on creator tools and RPG mechanics. Based on the game’s apparent popularity, the approach seems to be working.