Usually, a development cycle plagued by engine swaps and courtroom battles is a one-way ticket to cancellation.
Or at least a disastrous launch.
But for Unknown Worlds, the chaos seems to have had zero impact on the anticipation for their next deep-sea nightmare.
The team scrapped their work in Unity to rebuild the game in Unreal Engine 5, aiming for visuals that make the abyss even more terrifying.
There was also the brief panic when “Games as a Service” rumors started flying, leading players to fear battle passes until the devs clarified they just meant long-term co-op support.
On top of that, the studio has been dealing with a lawsuit involving a former audio lead, the kind of internal conflict that often leaks out and poisons a game’s reputation.
Despite the mess. Subnautica 2 is currently sitting at the top of Steam’s most-wishlisted charts, beating out massive AAA competitors.
It turns out that if you build a world scary and beautiful enough, players will wait through just about anything to dive back in.