From the official Discord:

We're launching our first official Hytale modding contest with $100,000 USD in total prizes!

But this isn't just a contest. This is the start of something much bigger.

My vision for Hytale has always been that modders should be celebrated, not sidelined. The people who pour their creativity into pushing the boundaries of what's possible in the game deserve to be front and center. They deserve to be rewarded. Think of it like esports, but for modders. We want to build an ecosystem where talent rises to the top, where the community recognizes and elevates the people making incredible things. This contest is the first step. There will be many more.

For this first contest, we chose World Gen V2 and NPC as two of our three categories very intentionally. These are areas where we know extraordinary talent exists, and honestly, we're scouting. If you blow us away, don't be surprised if we reach out. We want the best modders in the world working alongside us.

And looking ahead: over the coming months, we'll be rolling out more modding tools, an in-game mod browser, and a lot more. We're also thinking deeply about how players can directly reward the modders they love, without turning the game into a shopping mall. It should be fair for players and meaningful for creators.

This is just the beginning.

For more info, please visit: https://hytale.curseforge.com/newworldscontest/
$100k in total prizes spread across 65 winners 🔥
Compete in the contest’s three different categories - Worldgen V2, NPCs, and Experiences - for a chance to win big and bring amazing new mods to Hytale.

Aside from the mod contest, Simon also confirmed they're rolling out more modding tools and an in-game mod browser in the coming months. Nice to get the mod browser confirmed for this year, I'm really looking forward to it.

To me it reads like booth a contest and a headhunt for talent which is good because there they should get exactly the ones that want it to be a good game

More like cheap labor. They get loads of content for a low fee of $100k. Actually hiring people would be much costlier.