Unknown Worlds Entertainment, the developer of the Subnautica series, has come out to clarify publisher Krafton’s statement about Subnautica 2 adopting a Game-as-a-Service (GaaS) model. According to Unknown World’s blogpost, Subnautica 2 will not be “multiplayer-focused,” and will not be a GaaS, at least in the way the industry broadly uses the term.
Krafton’s earnings report published yesterday described Subnautica 2 to be a “multiplayer sequel to the original IP pursuing fandom snowballing.” This coupled with another line in the report that Subnautica 2 will adopt a “game-as-a-service model with enhanced replayability” caused quite a stir among the fans of the underwater survival series.
As for the multiplayer part, Unknown Worlds clarifies that the sequel in the making will not be multiplayer-focused. Instead, “you’ll be able to enjoy the game as a single-player” and the co-op feature of up to four players “will be an entirely optional way to play the game.”
Now what caused the most controversy was definitely Krafton’s labelling of Subnautica 2 as a GaaS title. Unknown Worlds insists,
“In reference to ‘Games-as-a-Service,’ we simply plan to continually update the game for many years to come, just like the previous two Subnautica games. Think our Early Access update model, expanded. No season passes. No battle passes. No subscription.”
Unknown Worlds also clarified that Subnautica 2 will not have its early access launch this year, but they will “share a lot more information later this year.” This corroborates earlier reports citing the 2025 release window of Subnautica 2.
