What’s really impressive, though, is how Unknown Worlds has left the lines of communication wide open.
There's nothing like a leisurely stroll in your PRAWN suit Unknown Worlds Still, some who had supported the game over the past year felt betrayed.
Following the initial wave of frustration, the studio spoke up, stating that Scorched Earth was necessary to test the infrastructure for future expansions in full release. The controversy blew up in the video game press. Many ARK fans took serious issue with the fact that Studio Wildcard was charging money for Scorched Earth while the base game was delayed, missing its proper launch in June. New environments brought new dinosaurs, too, along with a bunch of other fresh content to play with. The expansion was praised for its new badlands areas, beautiful in their austerity. In stark contrast, Studio Wildcard launched ARK: Survival Evolved’s Scorched Earth expansion at the end of the summer. Communication and transparency seems to be the path towards happy fans, and, in the case of Subnautica, there are creative ways to do that which benefit developers and players alike. While a number of Early Access games are fraught with player frustration and miscommunication, Unknown Worlds’s Subnautica is seeing unbridled success.
Purchasing a game in Early Access is always a gamble - it’s possible that it’ll never be finished, or, if it is, that it will fail to meet expectations. Steam Early Access is full of sloppy, moral ambiguities.