The proprietor of a leaked copy of Subnautica 2 seems to have unintentionally revealed themselves — after contacting the recreation’s developer for help.
Hit underwater journey Subnautica 2 launched this week in early entry, although after illegitimate and unfinished copies of the recreation started circulating on-line.
At the time, developer Unknown Worlds acknowledged in a assertion to IGN that leaked copies had been now being downloaded, although cautioned that these had been “incomplete improvement variations” that “don’t replicate the content material or gameplay expertise being ready for the official launch.”
It is unclear precisely what challenge the leaked copy proprietor contacted Unknown Worlds about, but it surely appears clear sufficient that they had been attempting to play an incomplete model of the recreation, and a workers member rapidly wised up.
“It took some doing, however this man self-reported,” Unknown Worlds developer Anthony Gallegos stated of the person through the recreation’s official Discord (as noticed by RespawnFirst). “Thanks for pirating a recreation that I’ve spent years engaged on. I am disenchanted that you just’d do this when it is sort of how we make our residing. I hope you rethink your life decisions.”
“Simply to be clear, pirates are gonna do their factor. We had been all youngsters as soon as,” Gallegos continued later. “Cash and the economic system could be very exhausting. I get it. It wasn’t the piracy that bothered me. It was the folks that flagrantly walked in right here and wagged it in the faces of people that had been ready to play legitimately. That was the half that aggravated me.
“I perceive and thanks for supporting the studio in the end. I can’t condone piracy, however I get why individuals do. I might a lot reasonably individuals purchase the recreation, strive it for an hour, and return it than go play it illicitly.”
Information that illegitimate copies of Subnautica 2 had been being unfold on-line bizarrely adopted a number of different excessive profile online game leaks in fast succession, together with at the least one person with the ability to entry their pre-ordered copy of LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Darkish Knight days early.
Then, earlier this week, Forza Horizon 6 developer Playground Video games issued a dramatic warning to anybody discovered enjoying a leaked construct of Xbox’s new racing blockbuster. These discovered doing so risked incurring “franchise-wide and {hardware} bans”, the studio stated, and one participant subsequently reported receiving a {hardware} ban till the yr 10,000.
Nonetheless, the leaks do not appear to have sunk Subnautica 2 — fairly the reverse. Already, the recreation has offered a beautiful 2 million copies inside 12 hours of its early entry arrival. Peak concurrent gamers throughout all launch platforms exceeded 651,000, with Steam alone reaching a peak of greater than 467,000 concurrent gamers. That’s practically 9 instances the all-time peak concurrent participant rely of the authentic Subnautica, which launched in 2018.
And Unknown Worlds has simply launched the Subnautica 2 early entry roadmap, detailing what followers can count on over the subsequent few months. We’ve bought a Issues to Do First in Subnautica 2 information to take a look at earlier than you dive in, plus useful resource location guides that will help you discover Titanium, Silver, and extra. Uncover blackbox and provide crate areas on our interactive Subnautica 2 map, and ensure you don’t miss any Angel Comb Diversifications or Blueprints.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s Information Editor. You possibly can attain Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or discover him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social