Unknown Worlds Entertainment

Unknown Worlds Entertainment is an independent game development company. It is based in San Francisco, California. The company wants to "unite the world through play". They are best known for Natural Selection.

History

Unknown Worlds was created in 2001. They started development of a free mod Natural Selection.

They decided to create the second game Natural Selection 2. They soon after officially created Unknown Worlds Entertainment. To help raise money for Natural Selection 2, they created Zen of Sudoku in November 2006. Soon after, a small group of investors backed the project after a meeting at GDC in San Francisco.

In October 2006, Max McGuire became the first employee. He became the Technical Director. A year later, they released Decoda, a commercial debugger. The studio later switched from the Source Engine to their own engine, which was named "Evolution". It was later changed to "Spark" because "Evolution" was already being used.^[1]

In June 2008, Cory Strader was hired as an art director.^[2] In May 2009, Unknown Worlds started to accept pre-orders for the game. Natural Selection 2 was released on October 31, 2012.

On December 17, 2013, they announced Subnautica. Charlie Cleveland was the game director and lead gameplay. Hugh Jeremy was the producer. They decided to switch to the Unity game engine. It was released on Steam Early Access on December 16, 2014. It is planned for Xbox One. It was released in August 2016.

In October 2021, South Korean video game developer Krafton announced that it would acquire Unknown Worlds and continue to operate as an independent game studio. ^[3] ^[4]

Games

Natural Selection (2002)
Zen of Sudoku (2006)
Natural Selection 2 (2012)
Subnautica (2018)
Subnautica Below Zero (2021)
Subnautica 2 (2025)
Future Perfect (TBA)

Awards

Natural Selection

2002 : Best Newcomer - 'Mod of the Year' Awards, Mod Database^[5]
2002 : Mod of the Year - 'Game of the Year' Awards, Gamespy
2003 : Most Improved Mods - 'Mod of the Year' Awards, Mod Database^[6]
2003 : Mods You Should Never Leave Home Without - 'Mod of the Year' Awards, Mod Database
2003 : Best Overall Mods - 'Mod of the Year' Awards, Mod Database
2004 : Best Level Design - 'Mod of the Year' Awards, Mod Database
2005 : Players' Choice #10 - 'Mod of the Year' Awards, Mod Database
2006 : Honourable Mention - 'Mod of the Year' Awards, Mod Database

Natural Selection 2

2012 : Best Indie Game - PC Gamer’s Best of E3 Awards
2012 : Best Indie Game - Gamespy's Best of E3 Awards
2012 : Best PC Multiplayer Game (People's Choice) - IGN Best of 2012 Awards

References

↑ ""Natural Selection 2 on Twitter"". Twitter. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
↑ "About - UnknownWorlds". UnknownWorlds. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
↑ "KRAFTON, INC. TO ACQUIRE UNKNOWN WORLDS, THE DEVELOPERS BEHIND SUBNAUTICA AND NATURAL SELECTION | KRAFTON". 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2021-10-31.
↑ "KRAFTON acquires Subnautica studio Unknown Worlds Entertainment". Gematsu. 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2021-10-31.
↑ "Mods of 2002 feature". Mod DB.
↑ "Mods of 2002 feature". Mod DB.

[1] ""Natural Selection 2 on Twitter"". Twitter. Retrieved 14 May 2016.

[2] "About - UnknownWorlds". UnknownWorlds. Retrieved 14 May 2016.

[3] "KRAFTON, INC. TO ACQUIRE UNKNOWN WORLDS, THE DEVELOPERS BEHIND SUBNAUTICA AND NATURAL SELECTION | KRAFTON". 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2021-10-31.

[4] "KRAFTON acquires Subnautica studio Unknown Worlds Entertainment". Gematsu. 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2021-10-31.

[5] "Mods of 2002 feature". Mod DB.

[6] "Mods of 2002 feature". Mod DB.

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