Subnautica 2 Dev Says It is ‘Not Multiplayer-Targeted,’ Clarifies Reside-Service Elements [UPDATE]

Up to date, February 8, 2024, 10:20 am PT: In its newest monetary report, writer Krafton seemingly revealed that Subnautica 2 is a multiplayer-focused live-service recreation, inflicting fairly a stir amongst followers of the sequence. Developer Unknown Worlds, nevertheless, shortly clarified in a weblog put up, insisting that it is, in reality, “not multiplayer-focused,” and defined the “games-as-a-service” side.

Within the monetary report, Krafton described Subnautica 2 as a “multiplayer sequel to the unique IP pursuing fandom snowballing,” which is a garbled approach of describing the sport. It went on to say Subnautica 2 lets gamers “discover an oceanic world in beautiful stylized graphics powered by Unreal Engine 5,” with “single or one to 4 participant co-op to uncover the mysteries on a wholly new alien planet,” alongside a “game-as-a-service mannequin with enhanced replayability.”

Within the weblog put up at this time, although, Unknown Worlds particularly addressed a few of the above descriptions with a number of clarifications.

“In reference to ‘Video games-as-a-Service,’ we merely plan to repeatedly replace the sport for a few years to return, similar to the earlier two Subnautica video games,” it wrote. “Suppose our Early Entry replace mannequin, expanded. No season passes. No battle passes. No subscription.”

The developer added that it’s “not multiplayer-focused. Co-op might be a wholly non-obligatory option to play the sport. You’ll have the ability to benefit from the recreation as a single-player.”

It additionally stated that Early Entry “is just not supposed for launch in 2024, however we plan to share much more data later this yr!”

Subnautica is a massively profitable indie recreation that first emerged in 2018, then noticed a follow-up, dubbed Beneath Zero, in 2021. IGN’s Subnautica assessment returned a 9/10. We stated: “Subnautica’s a survival recreation with focus and a very good sci-fi story, however its best achievement is its underwater horror.”

We have been equally impressed with Beneath Zero: “Subnautica: Beneath Zero is a leaner, meaner standalone enlargement to Subnautica that improves on the story and mechanics, however would not give us as a lot room to discover,” we stated. Subnautica and Beneath Zero are single-player recreation, though modders added multiplayer post-launch.

The business seems to be battling live-service video games after a quantity or current efforts failed to maneuver the needle and a few have been even cancelled earlier than launch. Maybe most notably, Sony canned Naughty Canine’s The Final of Us multiplayer recreation amid a extra basic pull again on live-service at PlayStation. Naughty Canine will now concentrate on single-player video games.

Beforehand profitable live-service video games have additionally hit exhausting occasions. Bungie’s Future 2 has struggled commercially, and Fortnite maker Epic has introduced big layoffs. In the meantime, some single-player solely video games noticed huge success in 2023, with the likes of Hogwarts Legacy and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom blowing up gross sales information. Rocksteady’s just lately launched Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League suffered forward of launch for its affiliation with the live-service mannequin.

Wesley is the UK Information Editor for IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You possibly can attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.