Subnautica 2 Dev Responds To Pirates

If the past year has felt particularly different when it comes to game piracy and leaks, that's because it is.

Cracks, or the breaking and releasing of video games by pirates, have been plentiful, and even Denuvo has not been able to stop modern piracy tools, including the Hypervisor method. Throw in a few pre-release leaks and developers and publishers have been put on the back foot.

Subnautica 2, the “underwater survival adventure” sequel to the original title of the same name from Unknown Worlds Entertainment, is one such victim of this development, but its developers have a clear message for the pirates.

Subnautica 2 was cracked early, but its developers aren't holding things accountable

In a post shared on the game's Discord, a developer slammed those who would dare to get the game for free, instead of paying the $29.99 that the game costs in its Early Access phase.

“It took some doing, but this guy self-reported,” a developer wrote about the pre-release leak. “Thank you for pirating a game I've worked on for years. I'm disappointed that you would do that when it's the way we live. I hope you reconsider your life choices.”

The title, which is now available in Early Access, was available a full two days before that. It's unclear exactly how the game was able to be accessed early, but it joined Pragmata, Death Stranding 2 on PC, Directive 8020, and Forza Horizon 6 as titles from just this year to be available before release.

In the case of Forza Horizon 6, it appears that an unencrypted version of the title was uploaded to Steam and pirates got hold of it. That leak was especially damaging because Forza Horizon 6 doesn't come out until May 19.

In response to these leaks, developer Playground Games threatened franchise and hardware bans for those caught playing an early version of the game. While not as aggressive, it's clear that Subnautica 2's developers are just as fed up with the word that their title has been leaked early and is being circulated by pirates.