Subnautica 2’s developer, Unknown Worlds, is undergoing an unexpected leadership shakeup. Multiple members of the senior leadership team are out, per an announcement from publisher KRAFTON.
Newly minted CEO Steve Papoutsis is joining the team from Striking Distance Studios, developers of The Callisto Protocol. Before that, Papoutsis was General Manager and Vice President at Visceral Games. Former leadership team Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire are to be replaced ‘effective immediately.’ According to KRAFTON, this will “bring renewed energy and momentum” to the development of Subnautica 2. Cleveland and McQuire founded Unknown Worlds in 2001.
While KRAFTON’s press release wishes the exiting co-founders and original Subnautica creators well, it doesn’t state the reason for their departure. Although you don’t need to read too heavily between the lines to infer a potential reason for the change.
First KRAFTON’s CEO CH Kim is quoted as saying; “We owe our players nothing less than the best possible game, as soon as possible.” Additionally, “As part of its oversight, KRAFTON is committed to achieving regular milestones to assess progress across its creative studios,” and “Unknown Worlds’ new leadership fully supports this process and is committed to meeting player expectations.”
Altogether this heavily indicates that whatever metrics KRAFTON uses to assess development pace and overall progress were not being met by Unknown Worlds. Papoutsis’ appointment therefore seems like an attempt to right the ship by the publisher. Given how well regarded Subnautica and its spinoff are, there is certainly a lot of pressure on Papoutsis and his team to deliver in the sequel.
Subnautica 2 is currenty planned to release some time in 2025.
About the Author
Austin Gallagher
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Austin enjoys long walks on the beach, sunsets, and games with turn-based tactical combat. If he isn't save-scumming in XCOM or a immersive sim, running a tabletop RPG, or climbing a rock wall... wait that's not Austin... what is that?
