Making Subnautica: From Bankruptcy to Brilliance

Subnautica is one of the most unique games released in the past few years, but how did the idea for the game come about, and how did the developers of the game navigate the challenges of early access development? Today I answer that question in: Making Subnautica: From Bankruptcy to Brilliance!

_____________________________________________________________
▼ Support The Channel ▼

Patreon

Paypal

_____________________________________________________________
▼ FOLLOW MY SOCIALS ▼

Discord

Twitter

Instagram

_____________________________________________________________
▼ CONTACT ▼

_____________________________________________________________
▼ Time Stamps ▼
0:00 - Intro and Background
0:57- The Idea and Early Development
4:03 - Change in Art Direction and First Reveal
5:20 - Minimal Viable Product and Change in Direction
5:37 - Financial Issues, First Release and Feedback
6:34 - The Aurora
6:54 - More Financial Problems and Steam Early Access
8:05 - Monthly Updates and Communication
9:12 - Financial Salvation & Influencers
10:15 - Road Map and Additional Features
10:56 - Adding A Main Story and Side Quests
11:49 - Completion, Cuts, Final Release and Reception
12:39 - Summary and Closing Thoughts

Thanks for watching Making Subnautica: From Bankruptcy to Brilliance

[lunatwilight]

feels like subnautica is an example of what can happen when a developer listens to their player base

[wesleycolvin]

I love the fact that, even after moving on to Sub Zero, they never left behind the game that started it all, eventually updating it with things from the following game and even put in the effort to fix more bugs and polish a few mechanics a bit more.

[RubenKuch]

I watched this whole video expecting it to have hundreds of thousands of views but only hundreds, you are very underrated. This is quality content

[Swift-Strike]

Seeing people still talk about subnautica even after all these years makes me extremely happy. It was amongst the first games I played and absolutely loved alongside Minecraft and a few others. It’s just one of those games you wish you could experience for the first time again and again. With quality content, and an absolutely amazing community, I believe you’ll go really far as a creator. Keep it up and I can’t wait to see where you go and what’s next!

(Hatch opens)
*Welcome aboard captain, all systems online.*

[johnr.timmers]

The feedback system was legendary and made the early versions of the game much more playable

[AntonSuprun]

I think Subnautica is a rare gem. It's a result of a passionate team working on the game, early access mechanics giving them the means to do so, a solid community of fans promoting and playtesting the game, and a whole lot of luck and chance. The game surviving till full release is just plain coincidence. Which makes it even better IMO.

[kieferholster]

I'm so glad subnautica came into being, it's such a beautiful game. I watched jacksepticeye play the game and instantly fell in love with it. When subnautica below zero came out, I got it in the first hour and it was also great. I'm so glad people talk about subnautica 5 years later, man I feel old. Great video man, also if you don't mind could I tell me what mic you use.

[flamethegame]

I think its a really fun story that small indie dev team went on to create one of the best games of all time (atleast i consider it one of the best)
Really just shows what game development done right looks like

[soren]

I know a couple other people have already said it, but this is some really well made content and I was so surprised to see how small your channel was. With such high quality videos you definitely deserve more success, and I'm sure you'll see it soon. Great work man, I'm excited for more!

[GrandEWN]

This is really one of those lightning in a bottle games, one of my favorites of all time and nothing comes close to the feeling i got while playing. Also wow, i didn't expect this level of quality from such a small channel, i thought you must've had well over a million subs.

[deltapig]

Such a high quality video I was so surprised it didn’t have 100k views, great content!!!!

[henrikaabo]

This is such a well done video. I have a feeling your channel will go places

[xouille]

This video is so underrated. Excellent narration amazing research work the video pace is perfect its deserve so much more congrats and keep up the great work

[soapfaces]

Firstly, great video considering the size of the channel. Secondly, I’m so glad unknown worlds pulled through the financial issues and listened to player feedback to create what we have today. One of my favourite games of all time and can’t imagine not having it

[treddox]

I was really interested in playing the game on Steam Deck, even though it was marked as “playable” instead of “verified.” Shortly after I bought it, they put out an update that said (I’m paraphrasing), “Hey, we noticed that the game wasn’t verified on Steam Deck, so we went in and fixed that. It’s verified now! :)”
That’s when I knew that I could trust the game was gonna be good, if the developers were still caring for it after all this time.

And I was right. I think it’s in my Top 10 most favorite games of all time.

[sypeiterra]

Straight up damn good quality content
Having been an early playtester, this game was an occasional mess that 180ed a few times but in the end we got there

My favorite thing I did was stress testing the engine by spawning literally a quarter million peepers and hitting them with a sub

[TheLoosGoos]

I remember watching IGP play this game through the early development and it was a great feeling to watch each update make the game better and better, while also taking player feedback seriously.

[FQP-]

something that really dissapoints me about the second installment is that they didn't do it the same way as this, they could have made everything so much better. but we shall see if they make it worth while in the 3rd game

[Acceleraise]

Incredible stuff yet again brother! Lots of research done for this respect the hard work. 👌

[ljoftheb]

how you got all the info on all the early development and previous ideas is beyond me, very impressive!