It’s been a rough couple of weeks forSubnauticaand fans of the underwater survival game. At the start of the month,the game’s original creators were fired from Unknown Worlds"effective immediately", with Krafton vowing thatnothing would be changing with the game. This, of course,had fans worried.
Following their dismissal, one of the studio’s original foundersstated that Subnautica 2 was ready to launch into early access. However, rumors surfaced thata delay was coming to avoid paying staff $250 million in bonuses, and ultimately, the game was pushed to 2026.
Initial calls for a boycott fell flat, with players opting to see how things unfolded before taking action. However, with the news ofSubnautica 2’sdelay, the community has rallied, promising review bombings and wishlist removals.
Subnautica 2 Fans Are Really Planning To Take Action This Time
While the Subnautica community has shown patience following the flurry of bad news it has received, the delay of Subnautica 2 has pushed players over the edge.
In the last few hours,a new threadhas been posted on the game’s subreddit, garnering over 13,000 upvotes in a remarkably short period. The thread calls on players to avoid supporting “these shady business practices,” asking them not to buy the second game.
Almost immediately, players began to support the original poster’s vision. SecretBirdinDisguisesaid, “Never ever thought I’d say this about Subnautica, but I won’t be buying the sequel. It sucks, but the only way to stick it to the suits that make these decisions is to just play something else.”
It sucks, but the only way to stick it to the suits that make these decisions is to just play something else.
Of course, with the game not releasing until 2026, a non-purchase boycott is hard, so players have taken other means to vent their frustration to Krafton. “Nobody can buy anything right now. What you CAN do is take it off your Steam wishlist (where it is currently the #2 most-wishlisted game on Steam). THAT should send a message,“saidDatabeast, with a second useradding, “You can still promise or state that you won’t buy the game. Give posts like this support as well. Make some yourself. The more it is known, the more people will protest via boycotting.”
Another user vowed to take a different course of action,saying, “Review-bombing it as soon as it releases, with all this info, would probably make a bigger impact. Steam review scores have a huge impact on purchasing decisions,” with this comment alone receiving dozens of upvotes. Players also shared the email addresses of Krafton’s senior leadership team members, with plans to email them to express their dissatisfaction.
While the boycott attempts are currently uncoordinated, with different community members promising to take varying actions, it seems the news of the delay has really lit the blue touch paper.
