The owner of PUBG bought the developer of the game Subnautica -apkrig

November 1, 2021 Bary Howards

The South Korean company Krafton, formerly known as Bluehole, which is behind PUBG, has bought the American studio Unknown Worlds Entertainment, which has Natural Selection and Subnautica. At the same time, Krafton undertook to continue to support the Unknown Worlds in their independent operation. This is the sixth studio under the wings of a South Korean company. The others are PUBG Studios, Striking Distance Studios, Bluehole Studio, RisingWings and Dreamotion.

Krafton wants to continue investing in the greatest talent, the company says. Studio Unknown Worls was founded in 2001 by Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire and created the Natural Selection mod for Half-Life, which was a commercial sequel. The studio continues to honor its community roots, which is why Subnautica, for example, went through a preliminary access program before the full release. According to Krafton, its authors have proven that they can create immersive experiences that appeal to players around the world.

They will release a new game next year

The acquisition is intended to help the new owner expand its brands and diversify the company’s portfolio. The two sides, of course, exchange courtesies as usual, and Krafton promises to help developers with their future work without interfering. Unknown Worlds chief Charlie Cleveland said it was clear from the start how similarly the two companies thought about games and their development. According to him, this is also because both Subnautica and PUBG share similar humble beginnings.

The uniqueness of the team should be underlined by the fact that nothing will change under the new owner to the management and organization of Unknown Worlds. In addition to further support for the titles Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero, the authors are now preparing a completely new game, which should enter early access next year. None of the companies commented on the terms of the closed trade.

Raphael van Lierop emphasizes that it cannot be owned and yet independent at the same time.

However, PC Gamer noted that not everyone celebrated the store. Hinterland Games (The Long Dark) team boss Raphael van Lierop talks about independence questioned. Although he does not name Krafton and Unknown Worlds directly, shortly after the announcement of the acquisition, he wrote on Twitter that the term independent studio is becoming quite vague when it is repeatedly said after similar deals that the team will retain its independence. According to him, this is not true. He suggests that such purchased studios lack several important freedoms and cannot, in fact, make full decisions about themselves and their projects.

Raphael van Lierop admits that the situation has improved significantly compared to reality 10 or 15 years ago. Today, owners really try to give teams more freedom after acquisitions. But according to them, no one buys a studio for which they want to retain absolute independence. He owns such a team, owns his brands and has no financial independence. Raphael van Lierop notes that this is not necessarily a bad thing. You just trade a little bit of freedom for sure. But he emphasizes that he cannot be owned and independent at the same time. According to him, this is ruled out. And according to the responses on Twitter, he’s obviously not the only one who thinks that big companies like to spell marketing indie slogans now.