If you’d asked me to guess what Steam’s most wishlisted game was, I’d never have said Subnautica 2.
But by all accounts, Krafton’s upcoming underwater sequel has nabbed the topspot for, uh, all of the wrong reasons.
I can’t say I was totally clued up on Subnautica 2’s recent controversies ahead of today, but it seems the harmless open-water survival game has conjured up a few.
Subnautica 2 is due to land in early access this year, with players once again teaming up with friends to craft vehicles and tools as they build underwater bases and explore a mysterious alien world.
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As reported by FRVR, video game analytics firm recently revealed that Subnautica 2 has been wishlisted a whopping 3.8 million times on Steam.
Steam is the platform most players of the franchise call home, although Subnautica 2 will be launching in early access on Xbox Series X/S with a PlayStation 5 release due at a later date.
The game is, as I alluded to above, published by Krafton, but it’s developed by Unknown Worlds Entertainment.
Subnautica 2 is Flying on Steam Despite Fan Calls For a Boycott
Internal turbulence originally came to light last year when it was reported that Krafton had replaced Unknown Worlds Entertainment’s CEO and co-founders.
A lawsuit was eventually filed from the affected studio developers claiming that Krafton did this ahead of a team bonus that would’ve seen $250 million distributed had the game launched in early access.
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“Suing a multi-billion dollar company in a painful, public and possibly protracted way was certainly not on my bucket list,” said Charlie Cleveland, one of the studio’s co-founders, at the time.
“But this needs to be made right. Subnautica has been my life’s work and I would never willingly abandon it or the amazing team that has poured their hearts into it.”
In the month’s since, many fans vowed to boycott the game out of respect for those who were abruptly let go from the project.
This, as I’m sure you know, entails completely avoiding supporting the project, whether that’s in terms of wishlisting or purchasing.
Clearly though, that boycott isn’t exactly going to plan given that Subnautica 2 is outperforming many other titles when it comes to wishlisting, including the likes of Resident Evil Requiem and Forza Horizon 6.
Of course, I should stress that wishlisting a game doesn’t always mean you’ll purchase it.
There could be fans here who wishlisted the title ahead of the agreed boycott, but there’s also going to be plenty of other people who just yearn to return to this world regardless of any real life drama.
While Subnautica 2 is yet to confirm its early access release date, it’ll be interesting to see what unfolds in the coming months.