Key Highlights:
- Subnautica 2’s developer, Unknown Worlds recently released a dev talk video.
- The vlog explored the upcoming Leviathan.
- The response to the video has been mostly negative.
It’s been a few months since Subnatica 2 has had any major updates, but developer Unknown Worlds surprised us by dropping a rather long video discussing the addition of a new predator to the game, the Collector Leviathan.
The game has been marred in controversy from start to finish, and many angry players have expressed their discontent with Krafton in the comments. Part of that may be deserved, but there’s a lot more to the story here than one would think.
Subnautica 2 Dev Vlog Opens to a Rather Lukewarm Response
Viewers of the newest dev vlog have not been too fond of it, as it would seem. The comments section of the video has been riddled with outrage from passionate fans, many of whom want the alleged ‘bonuses’ to be returned in full.
There are only 11,000 likes as of the time of writing this video, which is quite a concerningly low number. Especially more so when we consider the fact that the video is over 19 hours old at this point, amassing quite a lot of views.
That being said, the dev update does seem to be quite extensive, and there appears to have been some real progress being made here. The rest of the team at Unknown Worlds has no doubt worked their best to bring the sequel to life.
With good reason too, given that Subnautica 2 is the second largest indie game ever to be wishlisted on Steam. It’s beaten by none other than the towering Hollow Knight: Silksong, a game that managed to crash all major services minutes after its launch.
The Subnautica 2 Controversy, Explained
Subnautica 2’s development underwent a major change in leadership when parent company Krafton removed 3 figures from Unknown Worlds. This also happened to include CEO Ted GIll and creative director Charlie Cleveland, both of whom were removed from their leadership positions.
This resulted in a lawsuit from Charlie Cleveland, who sued Krafton against wrongful termination, seeking his payout that was part of the initial acquisition deal. Krafton refused, pointing to the fact that Subnautica 2 failed to meet specific milestones.
It should be mentioned that Unknown Worlds (the developers of Subnautica) had agreed to this deal before the acquisition. To make matters worse, Krafton had alleged that the three members were unfocused at work, and that certain members appeared to be more involved in ‘side work’ over completing the game’s development.
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Since then, the trio has alleged slander and defamation, with many coming to defend the group. On the other hand, many have pointed toward the allegations of mismanagement, which do seem to hold some weight to them.
However, the lawsuit is still ongoing, and there’s probably a lot more to the story than there appears to be at first glance. It’s probably not a good idea to make any judgment right now, and wait until the lawsuit serves its course.
We might see some additional information pop up, which could be quite crucial to the case.
What we do know is that Subnautica 2 is heading toward its 2026 target, after Steve Papoustis took over (of The Callisto Protocol). The game has seen numerous updates and changes since then, especially evident in its recent dev vlog.
Krafton does appear to be pushing for a release, but whether it will retain the soul of the original remains to be seen. That being said, the rest of the team at Unknown Worlds is still involved in the project, and I’m pretty sure they won’t disappoint us.
