Krafton has pushed back the release of the highly anticipated Subnautica 2 to 2026, just months before the South Korean publisher was set to pay out a $250 million bonus to the development team.
Subnautica 2 was originally set to launch in early access later this year, although it has been delayed due to feedback from early tests and to improve the overall quality of the product. Kraton said “it was not influenced by any contractual or financial considerations,” although it does come in wake of the Subnautica 2 developer, Unknown Worlds, losing many of its leadership last month.
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As previously reported, Steve Papoutsis, CEO of Striking Distance Studios, is taking over leadership of the team. Speaking during a company town hall this week, Papoutsis stated that Krafton doesn’t feel that Subnautica 2 was ready to launch this year, hence the delay. He was also asked if the delay was so the publisher could avoid paying out $250 million bonus, to which he responded:
It’s a good question, and I would appreciate patience on this particular topic,” Papoutsis commented, adding that specific details for the acquisition were “beyond my current understanding at the moment.”
The desire of Krafton is to have the very best version of Subnautica 2 available for its early access. While yes, the software that everybody worked on is in a great spot and it felt like, ‘Hey we should launch this,’ that wasn’t where both parties aligned around.
[Source – Bloomberg]