Subnautica 2’s early entry launch delayed to 2026 amid developer drama

Subnautica 2 is among the most extremely anticipated video games round. It is the second-most wishlisted sport on Steam behind (you guessed it) Hole Knight: Silksong. Nevertheless, you may want to attend longer than anticipated to attempt Subnautica 2 in four-player co-op, because the survival sport’s early entry launch has been delayed till early 2026.

Developer Unknown Worlds mentioned that group members who took half in playtests offered optimistic suggestions concerning the story, creatures, atmosphere and normal route of the sport. Nevertheless, the studio said, they “additionally offered some perception that there are a number of areas the place we wanted to enhance earlier than launching the primary model of Subnautica 2 to the world. Our group is on the coronary heart of how we develop, so we need to give ourselves slightly additional time to answer extra of that suggestions earlier than releasing the sport into early entry. With that in thoughts, we’ve made the choice to delay Subnautica 2’s early entry launch to 2026.”

The delay will afford Unknown Worlds an opportunity so as to add extra biomes, instruments, car upgrades and creatures whereas increasing the story, the studio mentioned. Gamers can count on extra particulars within the coming months.

However information of the delay comes amid behind-the-scenes drama at Unknown Worlds. Bloomberg studies that the studio had been in line for a $250 million bonus (which the management group deliberate to share with workers) from Krafton if it hit income objectives by the top of this yr. The delay reportedly means Unknown Worlds may be very unlikely to hit these targets. As such, Bloomberg‘s sources recommend meaning the workforce of round 100 individuals will not be eligible for the payout.

Final week, Krafton — which purchased Unknown Worlds in 2021 — turfed out the studio’s management workforce of CEO Ted Gill and co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire. The writer brought in Steve Papoutsis, a former govt at The Callisto Protocol developer Putting Distance, as the brand new CEO of Unknown Worlds.

“There’s nothing extra necessary than the gamer expertise. Given the anticipation round Subnautica 2, we owe our gamers nothing lower than the absolute best sport, as quickly as potential,” Krafton CEO CH Kim said in a statement, “We’re thrilled Steve is becoming a member of us in our shared dedication at Krafton and Unknown Worlds to ship Subnautica 2 as a extra full and satisfying entry within the sequence — one that actually lives as much as participant expectations.”

Per Bloomberg, Papoutsis instructed workers this week that Krafton did not consider Subnautica 2 was prepared for an early entry launch and claimed he did not know the specifics of the contract relating to the quarter-billion-dollar bonus. “It’s by no means been instructed to me that we’re making this variation particularly to influence any earnout or something like that,” he reportedly instructed employees.

In keeping with Cleveland, nonetheless, Subnautica 2 is definitely “prepared for early entry launch.” The studio’s co-founder wrote in a lengthy X post on July 5 that “whereas we thought this was going to be our determination to make, at the least for now, that call is in Krafton’s palms.”

A Krafton spokesperson instructed Eurogamer that the choice to delay Subnautica 2 was “primarily based solely on our dedication to high quality and to delivering the absolute best expertise for gamers” and it was not “influenced by any contractual or monetary concerns.” They added that “the choice had already been below dialogue previous to current management adjustments on the studio.”

Replace, July 10, 3:15PM ET: In a press release shared with Engadget, Krafton offered further context across the phrases of the $250 million bonus fee and reiterated its dedication to Unknown Worlds going ahead. The studio mentioned the present model of Subnautica 2 falls in need of expectations, and laid the blame at Cleveland and McGuire’s toes.

“The previous management deserted the duties entrusted to them,” the assertion mentioned. “Subnautica 2 was initially deliberate for an Early Entry launch in early 2024, however the timeline has since been considerably delayed. Krafton made a number of requests to Charlie and Max to renew their roles as Recreation Director and Technical Director, respectively, however each declined to take action. Specifically, following the failure of Moonbreaker, Krafton requested Charlie to commit himself to the event of Subnautica 2. Nevertheless, as an alternative of collaborating within the sport growth, he selected to concentrate on a private movie undertaking. Krafton believes that the absence of core management has resulted in repeated confusion in route and vital delays within the general undertaking schedule.”

Krafton’s full assertion reads as follows: