It's a problem that all developers will be facing in this holiday season, amid the arrival of GTA 6: nobody wants to have their game eclipsed by the planet-sized AAA titles.
It's not just those at the top of the food chain, though, as Hollow Knight: Silksong - a huge game in itself but operating in quite a niche market as a metroidvania title - shook the indie industry and caused a huge ripple of delays.
Over eight games changed their release dates due to Silksong's sudden release date announcement back in September, 2025, with many pushing their titles back to November, and even 2026 in the case of Aeterna Lucis.
Having poured resources into their games, developers like Square Glade Games are now facing a similar situation.
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Amid the shock drop of Subnautica 2, games like Outbound have been forced to change their release date to avoid being swallowed whole by this dog-eat-dog tactic.
Subnautica announces its sudden early access release date
Following the release of Silksong last year, Subnautica 2 emerged as the most wishlisted game on Steam, as the underwater scuba-survival game is set to make a huge splash.
Operating on an alien world, the co-op adventure title pushes your resourcefulness to the limit while unearthing incredible new species of aqua-monsters.
The wait for the title is nearly over, as on May 1, Unknown Worlds Entertainment revealed that they are submerging players as of May 14.
Launching in an early access stage, the sequel title to an already-beloved game has excited millions of gamers, who are set to pour countless hours into exploring the depths of another swimmingly beautiful planet.
In its wake, though, other survival games have needed to heed the advice of its genre's name and move out from the grasp of Subnautica in order to find their place.
'We need to dodge the Leviathan', Indie devs scramble to avoid being eclipsed
Survival game Outbound is poised for release this month, with over one million Steam users anticipating May 14 with it in their Wishlist.
But with that date now claimed by Subnautica 2, the developers have acted quickly and moved their game forward to 'dodge the Leviathan.'
"The highly anticipated title Subnautica 2 just revealed their release date – which falls exactly on our planned release date May 14th," Square Glade Games said in a new blog post.
"Even though we are very hyped for their game and big fans of the franchise, we think that it is best to not compete with such a highly anticipated title on that day.
"We need to dodge the Leviathan, which means that you can start your road trip earlier."
The cute and cozy camping experience title will instead get out before Subnautica and launch on May 11 on Steam and Xbox (May 14 still for Epic Games Store and PlayStation).
There's always room for more games, but at least this move gives players a chance to taste life in the minivan before taking a dip in the extraterrestrial seacave crawler.