Subnautica 2 fans worry the underwater survival game is "dead before arrival" following its studio's sudden leadership change: "I'm scared to know what this means for the future"

News
By published

The leadership changes have arrived ahead of Subnautica 2's early access launch, still set for later this year

An image of a player scanning an alien fish during the new game Subnautica 2.
(Image credit: Unknown Worlds)

Subnautica 2 fans are seriously concerned about Unknown Worlds' upcoming underwater survival game following news of a major leadership shakeup at the studio.

Yesterday, it was announced by Krafton that Unknown Worlds has a new CEO, Steve Papoutsis – chief executive officer of The Callisto Protocol developer Striking Distance Studios – who's taking over the role "effective immediately." Original Subnautica director and Unknown Worlds co-founder Charlie Cleveland is leaving the company, as is CEO Ted Gill and co-founder Max McGuire.

Others are also expressing hesitance over diving into the game as soon as it's available. "I was 100% set on buying it day one, but now I'm going to wait. I have a bad feeling about this," one says. "I guess I'll not be buying until it’s properly released and reviewed," another agrees.

Subnautica 2 hadn't been given an exact early access release date yet, and it's not clear if it could be delayed at all given the leadership changes – Krafton didn't say so in its announcement, but claimed that the shift is to "prioritize development momentum" and deliver the "best possible fan experience" when that launch does come around.

Catherine Lewis
Catherine Lewis
Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.