Unknown Worlds Entertainment facts for kids
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Founder |
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| Headquarters | San Francisco, California |
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Key people
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Steve Papoutsis (CEO) |
| Products |
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| Parent | Krafton (2021–present) |
Unknown Worlds Entertainment is a company from San Francisco, USA. They make awesome video games! They are super famous for their games like Natural Selection and Subnautica. In October 2021, another big game company called Krafton bought Unknown Worlds.
Contents
The Story of Unknown Worlds
Unknown Worlds started in May 2001. A person named Charlie Cleveland began it. At first, it was a group of game makers. They created a popular free mod for the game Half-Life. This mod was called Natural Selection.
Making Natural Selection 2
Because Natural Selection was so popular, Charlie Cleveland decided to make a new game. This new game would be a sequel called Natural Selection 2. Soon after, Charlie started Unknown Worlds Entertainment. It became a real company that makes computer games.
To help pay for Natural Selection 2, the company made a puzzle game. It was called Zen of Sudoku and came out in November 2006. Charlie Cleveland said making this puzzle game was a "last option" to get money. He did not want to give up control of his company to outside investors.
Growing the Team and New Tools
In October 2006, Max McGuire joined the company. He became a co-founder. Max had worked on other games before. He became the main technical director for Unknown Worlds. Then, work on Natural Selection 2 really began.
Max and Charlie found people to invest money in their company. A year later, Unknown Worlds released a tool called Decoda. This tool helped them make games using a special computer language called Lua. They used Lua to write much of the game code for Natural Selection 2.
Later, the company decided to use their own game engine. A game engine is like the main software that runs a game. They had been using the Source engine. After asking their fans for ideas, they named their new engine "Spark".
In June 2008, Cory Strader joined as the art director. He had also worked on the first Natural Selection game. In May 2009, fans could start pre-ordering Natural Selection 2. The game was finally released on October 31, 2012.
Changes in Ownership
A company called Perfect World bought a part of Unknown Worlds in August 2011. They bought more shares in February 2013. This gave them a lot of control over the company.
However, Perfect World later sold most of its shares back to the founders of Unknown Worlds. This happened in 2019. They sold the rest of their shares in January 2021.
Unknown Worlds Joins Krafton
In October 2021, a big South Korean game company called Krafton bought Unknown Worlds. Krafton is known for games like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Krafton said that Unknown Worlds would still make games on its own.
Challenges with Subnautica 2
A new game, Subnautica 2, was planned to come out in 2025. It was going to be an early access game for computers and Xbox. But in July 2025, Krafton announced some big changes.
The founders of Unknown Worlds, Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, left the company. The CEO, Ted Gill, also left. Steve Papoutsis from another Krafton company took over as CEO. Krafton said they wished the original creators well.
Krafton also delayed Subnautica 2 until 2026. The former leaders had said the game was ready for its early release. Some news reports suggested the delay was related to a payment Krafton would make if the game was delivered on time.
Players were upset about the changes and the delay. Krafton then explained that the original leaders had not been doing their jobs well. This had caused delays in Subnautica 2's development. Krafton also said they would give a bonus to many developers at Unknown Worlds for the game's release in 2026.
Later, it was reported that Krafton felt Subnautica 2 did not have enough content. They wanted Unknown Worlds to add about 30% more to the game. Krafton confirmed this. They said they wanted to make sure the game was great for fans. They also wanted to help the game series grow for a long time.
Games Made by Unknown Worlds
- Half-Life: Natural Selection (2002)
- Zen of Sudoku (2006)
- Natural Selection 2 (2012)
- Subnautica (2018)
- Subnautica: Below Zero (2021)
- Moonbreaker (2024)
- Subnautica 2 (2026)
See also
In Spanish: Unknown Worlds Entertainment para niños
