PUBG company Krafton buys Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds
New "genre-defining game" coming next year.
Krafton, Inc., the company behind battle royale PUBG, has bought Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds for an undisclosed fee.
Unknown Worlds becomes Krafton's sixth studio, joining PUBG Studios, Striking Distance Studios, Bluehole Studio, RisingWings and Dreamotion.
Unknown Worlds began life creating the Half-Life mod, Natural Selection, which eventually spawned a commercial sequel. It went on to release underwater adventure game Subnautica and, most recently, follow-up Subnautica: Below Zero.
Krafton said Unknown Worlds will function as an independent game development studio wholly owned by Krafton, with its structure and leadership remaining in place.
Updates for Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero will continue, but we now have word Unknown Worlds is currently working on "a new genre-defining game" due to launch into early access in 2022.
"It was immediately apparent how closely Unknown Worlds and Krafton are aligned in the way we think about games and game development," said Charlie Cleveland, CEO of Unknown Worlds.
"Subnautica and PUBG both started humbly and evolved successfully through constant iteration and feedback. We want to bring new games to the world stage - and with Krafton, we're a big step closer. We're truly looking forward to our future together."