PUBG's parent company now owns Subnautica studio Unknown Worlds

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PUBG Company father or mother firm Krafton will quickly be the proud new proprietor of Subnautica studio Unknown Worlds. Krafton mentioned the acquisition will assist it “broaden its IP and diversify the corporate’s portfolio of groundbreaking video games.”

Playerunknown's Battlegrounds is the jewel in Krafton's crown, however Unknown Worlds will truly be its sixth studio: It additionally owns cellular studios RisingWings and Dreamotion, Bluehole and PUBG Studios, and Glen Schofield's Putting Distance Studios, which is at present engaged on a Lifeless Area-style survival horror sport name the Callisto Protocol that, for some cause, is set in the PUBG universe.

“It was instantly obvious how carefully Unknown Worlds and Krafton are aligned in the way in which we take into consideration video games and sport improvement,” Unknown Worlds founder and CEO Charlie Cleveland mentioned in a statement. “Subnautica and PUBG each began humbly and developed efficiently via fixed iteration and suggestions. We wish to carry new video games to the world stage—and with Krafton, we’re a giant step nearer. We’re actually trying ahead to our future collectively.”

Krafton mentioned Unknown Worlds will proceed to “perform as an impartial sport improvement studio,” with its present management and construction intact. That dedication met with pushback from indie developer Raphael van Lierop, founder and artistic director of The Long Dark studio Hinterland Video games, who didn't title Unknown Worlds particularly however mentioned on Twitter that it's “simply not potential or true” that indie studios can stay impartial after they've been acquired.

What does it imply to be impartial? It boils down to some key selections, finally. 1) Are you able to allocate firm assets as you would like? 2) Are you able to make the tasks you would like? 3) Are you able to shut down your individual firm if you want? If you cannot do all three, you aren’t impartial.October 29, 2021

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Van Lierop mentioned post-acquisition indie studios have a “comparatively” great amount of freedom in comparison with 10 or 15 years in the past, when small builders have been more likely to be rolled into bigger organizations and disappear. “However no massive acquirer is shopping for an organization after which giving them true independence,” he tweeted. “They personal you, they personal your IP, you want their permission to allocate assets, and if you happen to don't wish to run your organization any extra, you may be changed.”

In a reply to van Lierop, Axiom Verge creator Thomas Happ made an analogous remark, noting that “impartial” and “indie” are actually good advertising and marketing buzzwords.

It is attention-grabbing how “impartial” and “indie” are actually fascinating advertising and marketing phrases that massive firms wish to use for themselves… it wasn’t all the time that meansOctober 29, 2021

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It's true: Digital Arts, one of many greatest videogame publishers on the planet, has an indie-focused publishing division known as EA Originals, as do Starbreeze (Starbreeze IndieLabs) and Take-Two (Private Division). As van Lierop mentioned, it's not essentially a foul factor—it's truly a boon for many—but it surely does blur the traces of what “indie” is within the public consciousness.

Krafton mentioned that alongside its ongoing assist for Subnautica and Subnautica: Under Zero, Unknown Worlds can also be engaged on a brand new “genre-defining sport” that's anticipated to enter early entry someday in 2022. I've reached out to Krafton for extra info on

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