Subnautica 2 is getting into early entry finally.
IGN can solely reveal that each developer Unknown Worlds and writer Krafton have agreed the sport is prepared for its early entry launch in May on Xbox and PC, although a precise date hasn’t been supplied simply but.
Unknown Worlds head Steve Papoutsis shared the next message with the Subnautica 2 crew as we speak:
Workforce,
We wish to take a second to sincerely thank each member of the Unknown Worlds crew and our companions. Over the previous 9 months, you have got labored extremely arduous to convey Subnautica 2 near the end line. That effort has resulted in a sport we’re actually proud of, one that every of us and our companions at KRAFTON unanimously decided is prepared for Early Access launch in May.
Because of your dedication and expertise, we have added extra story chapters, constructed new creatures, and created new biomes together with many different options. With this vital progress, we’ve got handed KRAFTON’s milestone evaluation final week and are actually prepared to start out our open improvement journey alongside our group. We have now full confidence that we’ve got reached some extent the place we are able to ship an expertise our gamers will love.
We sit up for working with Ted Gill to assist a easy transition and work towards a profitable launch. Our precedence is getting this sport into the fingers of the group that has been eagerly ready for it—and meaning honoring the work you have got already finished to make that attainable.
This comes as a significant victory for Unknown Worlds on the heels of its builders reaching a major victory in a authorized battle with writer Krafton. Final 12 months, CEO Ted Gill and different senior crew members have been unexpectedly fired from the studio and the sport’s launch was delayed, with Krafton alleging that Gill and his colleagues have been “checked out” and had didn’t ship a sport that was prepared for early entry. The fired leaders filed a lawsuit, claiming Krafton was making an attempt to get out of its obligation to pay out a $250 million bonus break up between all the crew that might have kicked in if Subnautica 2 launched on time. The continuing authorized drama in the following months included extreme claims on each side, together with the suggestion that Krafton CEO Changhan Kim had used ChatGPT to “brainstorm methods to keep away from paying” Unknown Worlds’ bonus, and that the fired leaders had “referenced racist views towards Korea and Korean individuals”.
(*2*)
Nonetheless, simply yesterday, a choose ordered Krafton to increase the deadline on the circumstances for the $250 million bonus, and reinstate Gill in his former position. Although litigation stays pending, at the least for now, it appears that evidently Subnautica 2 is ready to transfer ahead with one of its main drivers again on the wheel. Krafton itself seems to be on board with releasing Subnautica 2, as indicated by a press release shared with IGN as we speak:
We will affirm that the inner message shared with the Unknown Worlds crew is correct. The crew has made significant progress following the milestone evaluation permitted earlier this month, and has been working towards an Early Access launch in May. Whereas we respectfully disagree with this week’s courtroom ruling and intend to discover all authorized avenues, our purpose is to attenuate disruption to the crew and to the discharge plan. We stay dedicated to an open improvement strategy, working carefully with the group as improvement continues, and are targeted on delivering the absolute best expertise to gamers.
With at the least this a lot resolved, this hopefully means we’ll begin seeing much more significant updates about what’s to come back in Subnautica 2 in May. Simply final month, the studio launched a video about implementing co-op multiplayer, and final fall it confirmed off a brand new deep-sea predator.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Acquired a narrative tip? Ship it to rvalentine@ign.com.