Subnautica 2 Devs Defend Decision Not To Include Weaponry

Summary

Subnautica 2 fans have been concerned about the direction of the game, as worries about the lack of weaponry and light story have caused backlash.
On the Subnautica Discord, Unknown Worlds has defended the game’s direction, claiming the point of Subnautica is to “learn, evade, and survive.”
Game lead Anthony Gallegos has also brushed off concerns that the series is “woke” now, basically directing those complaints to the nearest dumpster.

Subnautcia 2 is one of this year’s most highly-anticipated titles, as we know it will be dropping in early access at some point in 2025. Unfortunately, developer Unknown Worlds has had to try and mitigate some backlash over the past month, as more details about the game itself have had fans expressing concerns over the direction of the game compared to its predecessors.

One of the biggest points of criticism was the game’s length, as many are worried the 15-hour-long runtime wouldn’t be enough, while the confirmation that Subnautica 2 will have no weaponry in it also rustled some jimmies among the community. In a recent conversation on the Subnautica Discord (first shared by Reddit user ZookeeperGamelll1339), various developers from Unknown Worlds have now defended the game’s direction, some a bit more passionately than others.

Subnautica 2 Devs Defend Decision Not To Include Weaponry

First off, Unknown Worlds addresses concerns that the game is “woke” now, and it gets the kind of response from design lead Anthony Gallegos that you’d expect. In the chat, Gallegos said that he’s “happy to disappoint anyone who complains about stuff being “woke”, and that they can essentially direct their complaints to the nearest dumpster.

Subnautica Is The Best Of Both Survival And Survival Horror Gaming

No survival game has come even close to besting Subnautica.

In response to the more legitimate concerns, another developer called Uly reveals that Unknown Worlds is listening to criticism, but doesn’t “take everything as gospel”. For example, they explain that they’re aware that people are upset you won’t be able to kill Leviathans in Subnautica 2, but take it as a sign that there “aren’t enough fun/interesting ways” to deal with them, and that they’ll be working on addressing the issue.

To build on the game’s decision to have no weaponry, creative media producer Scott MacDonald (also known as Obraxis) points out that the overall point of the Subnautica series is not to kill everything, but to “learn, evade, and survive” in a hostile environment. Uly also backs that up by saying that anyone hoping they’ll be able to kill big fish in Subnautica 2 is going to be “deeply disappointed”.

It definitely sounds as though Unknown Worlds is sticking to its vision, which is probably better for the overall quality of the game, rather than trying to quickly backpedal over fan pressure. If you’re hoping that Unknown Worlds will change its tune between now and the game’s proper release, it sounds like you’re out of luck.