The sequel to well-received underwater survival game Subnautica will be a live service game with both multiplayer and single player adventures. The news was revealed by indie developer Krafton and has…
A few of you noticed some information shared online by our publisher, KRAFTON 🕵
While some of the news is exciting, we’d like to clarify:
Early Access is not intended for release in 2024, but we plan to share a lot more information later this year!
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.
The game is not multiplayer-focused. Co-op will be an entirely optional way to play the game. You’ll be able to enjoy the game as a single-player.
As always, we are so proud and incredibly grateful to have such a passionate and engaged community, who love the Subnautica games deeply.
Thanks for keeping an eye out for any news about our progress on the next game.
We’re so excited to show you what we’ve been working on and hope that you love it as much as we do.
Honestly I haven’t even considered they would do multiplayer in the next one, but now that they mentioned it I’m fully expecting at least some paid cosmetics or some form of mtx, which is on par for the course as of late. My expectations are so low these days that I just hope they don’t pull any always-online or drm bullshit, so that the game can be preserved and modded.
Well, they failed to answer one more huge question when it comes to GaaS... Is it always online DRM?
On console platforms like the Switch, I can play Subnautica offline anywhere, and though the second game is likely far outside the switch's capabilities, I think DRM model is an important thing to clarify when it comes to GaaS definition.
They haven't fucked us over so far with DLC, MTX or any bullshit with their previous entries, so no reason to believe they will do here, they are very open with their development and talking to the community. So until they actually screw us over, it's unfair to pretend we are being.
It just sounds like a miscommunication/misuse of the term by KRAFTON, Unknown Worlds then came out to clarify. We will just have to wait and see, we can get actually angry once we know there's going to be some bullshit involved.
The only current downside to the next Subnautica is that it's going to be built on UE5, I just hope they manage to avoid all the shortcuts.
A lot of UE games are low performance or use shit features (like TAA). You can make something which "looks good" quickly with the engine and a lot of devs do just that instead of taking their time to tweak things for better performance or visual fidelity. So instead we get stuck with blurry messes.
I really loved Subnautica, didn’t like Below Zero but am still playing Subnautica from time to time. I can’t even imagine how a game with such a great setting and story can become a gaas. I can get behind co-op, but isn’t the ultimate goal in that game to get back home?
It's not becoming GaaS, they just meant it will receive updates like the current ones did, was a mistake in wording.
I hope it's more like Subnautica and not Below Zero too, having a silent protagonist explore a world and uncover story was far more fun than full voice acted characters. Not the mention how broken the BZ story was and how the world never made you feel uneasy like the original did.
I thought the soundtrack was good on it's own (I love Ben Prunty's music), but it did not fit the game.
The way the music and audio design in-general in the first game all fit together so well is what made half the experience.
And yeah...
::: spoiler spoiler
you go down to find out what happens to your sister, then that becomes a side quest you can forget about and you fuck off with a random alien :')
:::
This was a mistake in their wording, the next Subnautica will be like the others, they simple meant it will receive updates for a time after, just like the other ones did. There won't be any battle pass or mtx bullshit.
Edit, link: https://unknownworlds.com/subnautica/an-update-about-the-next-subnautica/
The original was so good, but the expansion/sequel really showed that they didn’t understand what was good about the first.
I don’t know exactly how I’d go about making a sequel, it was such a fun and singular experience. Maybe just do it again on a new planet with a bigger area to explore? Maybe a whole new setting with new mechanics?
Well they tried to sort of do both, but with a smaller area and less environmental storytelling, in favor of more just overt storytelling. And the new mechanics (snowmobiling with worms) were pretty limited and not as interesting as the old vehicles.
And now this, yikes. Multiplayer could be a fun addition, but not if it requires a live-service model. And again, it really seems like they don’t understand what was good about the first one.
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