TheSubnauticacommunity is in a tough spot right now. While it’s desperate to support the game and its upcoming sequel, publisher Krafton has made decisions with which it strongly disagrees, sparking severe backlash.
While much of the promised backlash has been directed towards theupcoming sequel, which is the source of the recent controversies, fans of the series have turned to the original game andBelow ZeroonSteamto voice their anger through a series of review bombings.
Subnautica’s Recent Drama: The Story So Far
For those unfamiliar with the story, two weeks ago,Subnautica’s original creators were ousted from Unknown Worlds"effective immediately", with the trio replaced by Striking Distance Studios CEO, Steve Papoutsis. Unknown Worlds' parent company, Krafton, defended its decision, declaring “nothing has changed with how the game is structured.”
Despite this, rumors quickly surfaced that the three former Unknown Worlds staff members were fired and the game delayeddue to an upcoming $250 million bonus, a claim that Krafton denied, stating the leadership team “abandoned the responsibilities entrusted to them.”
Naturally, this didn’t go down well with Subnautica’s vibrant community. Initialtalks of a boycott fell flatbefore a series of uncoordinatedSubnautica 2 review bombings, boycotts, and emails to Krafton’s senior leadership team gained momentum.
The Original Subnautica Is Now Getting Review Bombed On Steam
It’s going to take a lot to dent both Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero’s overall Steam review ratings. The former holds an ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ rating, based on over 286,000 reviews, and the latter a ‘Very Positive’ rating, based on more than 89,000 reviews; however, that hasn’t stopped players from voicing their concerns.
Over the last few days, according to data fromSteamDB, both titles have experienced a significant increase in negative reviews from unhappy fans.
Typically, before this recent situation, Subnautica would receive no more than six or seven negative reviews per day, usually between one and four; over the last five days, it has received over 200. The 69 negative reviews it received on July 10 is the fourth most the game has received in a single day, and the most in over seven years, since February 2018. It’s a similar story with Below Zero, which is seeing its largest influx of negative reviews since 2021.
A quick glance at thereviews on Steamshows just how unhappy fans are. One player said, “Krafton fired the original Subnautica 1 devs and delayed the game to avoid paying 250 million dollars in bonuses to the remaining dev team of Subnautica 2. They will drive subnautica into the ground due to corporate greed,” while another added, “KRAFTON, Inc. are corporate thugs and have stolen this IP and are defrauding the creators.”
KRAFTON, Inc. are corporate thugs and have stolen this IP and are defrauding the creators.
The general consensus can be summed up in one review from user Sun, who said, “Pay the original creators, Krafton. Community goodwill makes/breaks a game.”
It’s the latest twist in what is set to be a long-running drama, withthe ousted devs revealing that they now plan to sue Kraftonin a “painful way”.
