Update []: Increasingly it feels like Sony’s antiquated approach to Early Access is biting it in the bum. Subnautica 2’s runaway success is evidence of that.
To be fair, this game is available on Game Pass so it may be the case that Microsoft has a legacy console exclusivity deal with the title. (Odd, at a time when it’s actively promoting Halo for the PS5, but we digress.)
Unknown Worlds hasn’t really said anything about when Subnautica 2 will come to the PS5, but a Discord comment from a dev (shared on Reddit) revealed that “PlayStation doesn’t have an Early Access program currently [so there’s] no news on Subnautica 2 [for the PS5].”
The problem is that Sony does allow select Early Access games on its console, but there seems to be no real rhyme or reason to it. Palworld, for instance, is a high profile example.
It seems to us that PlayStation only allows Early Access games on the PS Store when they’re popular enough.
Well, Subnautica 2 just peaked at almost 500k concurrents on Steam, and was one of the platform’s most wishlisted games for years.
At the end of the day, we’re just happy Unknown Worlds was able to get this game out at all, due to all of the legal drama outlined in the original article below.
But there’s definitely a sentiment that Sony’s buttoned-up approach to Early Access games is costing it some of these runaway hits upon release, which is a policy we think the manufacturer should review.
Original Story: Subnautica 2’s road to release may be more interesting than the game itself.
Unless you’ve been living under water, you’ll know ex-publisher Krafton and maker Unknown Worlds got caught up in a bitter dispute, resulting in the ejection of the dev’s CEO and so much more.
Eventually, a judge sided with the San Francisco studio, and there’s zero mention of the Korean giant anywhere in this new trailer. In fact, fired CEO Ted Gill is quoted in the press release, now he’s presumably back to work.
Madness!
“We’re excited for players to experience Subnautica 2, beginning 14th May,” he said. “Our team cannot wait to hear your feedback as the game evolves throughout Early Access.”
As mentioned above, the game will launch in Early Access in just two weeks, where it’ll presumably become one of the biggest titles on the planet.
Subnautica 2 has been sitting pretty as Steam’s most wishlisted game for eons now, and while that doesn’t always convert into sales… Well, in this instance we honestly wouldn’t rule out some massive numbers.
The catch in all this, of course, is that Sony’s a bit weird with Early Access games. There are examples of it bending its rules to release them, but generally it prefers finished products on the PS Store.
All that means Subnautica 2 will debut on PC and Xbox Series X|S on 14th May, but you’re going to have to sit real tight for the PS5 release.
The good news is that we expect this game to come to Sony’s console eventually, and it’ll be the complete, finished version when it does. We may have to do another run through the original and its Below Zero spin-off while we wait.
