Unknown Worlds Entertainment facts for kids
 |
|
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California |
|
Key people
|
|
| Products | Video games |
| Parent | Krafton (2021–present) |
Unknown Worlds Entertainment is a company from America that makes video games. It's located in San Francisco. This company is famous for its game series like Natural Selection and Subnautica. In October 2021, another video game company from South Korea, called Krafton, bought Unknown Worlds.
Contents
History of Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Unknown Worlds started in May 2001. It was created by Charlie Cleveland. At first, it was a group of game makers. They worked on a popular free mod for the game Half-Life. This mod was called Natural Selection.
From Mod to Company
The Natural Selection mod was very successful. Because of this, Charlie Cleveland decided to make a full game based on it. This new game would be called Natural Selection 2. Soon after, Charlie Cleveland officially started Unknown Worlds Entertainment. It became a company that makes computer games.
Making Games and Finding Funds
Unknown Worlds usually doesn't make simple, quick games. But in November 2006, they created Zen of Sudoku. This was a puzzle game based on the popular Sudoku game. They made it to earn money. This money helped them pay for the development of Natural Selection 2. Charlie Cleveland said that making simple games was a "last option" to get money. He didn't want to give up control of his company to outside investors.
New Team Members and Tools
In October 2006, Max McGuire joined the studio. He became a co-founder. Max had worked as a lead programmer before. He became the Technical Director at Unknown Worlds. After Max joined, the work on Natural Selection 2 really sped up. Max and Charlie also got help from some investors.
A year later, Unknown Worlds released a tool called Decoda. This tool helps programmers find and fix mistakes in Lua code. They created Decoda to help them make Natural Selection 2. Much of the game's code was written in Lua.
Building Their Own Game Engine
Later, while making Natural Selection 2, the company announced a big change. They decided to stop using the Source engine. Instead, they would use their own game engine. They built this engine themselves. They asked their fans for ideas for the engine's name. They first chose "Evolution engine." But they later found out that name was already taken. So, they picked "Spark" as the name for their new engine.
In June 2008, Cory Strader joined as the art director. He had been an important part of the original Natural Selection team. In May 2009, Unknown Worlds started taking orders for Natural Selection 2. The game was finally released on October 31, 2012.
Changes in Ownership
Over the years, parts of Unknown Worlds Entertainment were bought by other companies. In August 2011, a company called Perfect World bought 40% of Unknown Worlds. In February 2013, Perfect World bought even more shares.
Later, in October 2021, a South Korean video game company called Krafton announced they would buy Unknown Worlds. Krafton is known for games like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Unknown Worlds still works as its own game studio, even though it's now part of Krafton.
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 (2022)
See also
In Spanish: Unknown Worlds Entertainment para niños
