Is it ethical to buy Subnautica 2, now that it is released in early access?
(store.steampowered.com)
CubitOom
GamesSubnautica 2 released today in early access.
Game was mostly ready before the original devs were fired to get out of paying them what they were owed.
Original Devs seem to be winning in court, but it is an ongoing legal battle.
I was thinking to boycott but now I'm less sure. What are your thoughts?
Law of Headlines: If it's a yes/no question, the answer is "No".
On one hand, the devs need X sales before they would earn their bonus.
On the other, if they don't make those sales it wouldn't be hard to argue that the PR surrounding Krafton's bullshit was the direct cause of not hitting their target, so they would be awarded punitive damages in their lawsuit.
Either way, I think the devs themselves will win.
I advocate piracy
Dont fucking buy it. Severe Violation of EU Law, GDPR, and Consumer Protection Regulations in the EULA.
SUBNAUTICA 2 TERMS OF SERVICE AND LICENSE AGREEMENT
Shares data with third parties such as: Cloud service providers Analytics providers Anti-cheat / security tools
The game is licensed, not owned by the player
Players receive only a limited, revocable right to use the game
The company retains full intellectual property rights
The game can be modified, restricted, or removed at any time
Mods and user content are owned by the company
Terms can be updated at any time
Arbitration clauses enforced which prevents any class-action lawsuits
Liability is heavily limited under the agreement
Accounts and access can be suspended or terminated at any time
Why the fuck does it share data with anti cheat and security tools?
Does it have competitive multiplayer?
This is what actually made me torrent it.
If they want analytics, it should be an opt-in.
Man gaming is in a sorry fucking state.
It shouldn't be calling home at all. And why the fuck does any game like this need anti-cheat?!
Eh, whatever, it's UE5 underperforming shit anyway. Sorry to the developers who spent time on this, I guess management fucked it for you. I don't know how much was Krafton or just some out of touch managers, but man does it suck.
I don't know about this one but sometimes single player /co-op games utilise anti cheat to make sure players don't use tools to unlock pre order bonus cosmetics they are not eligible for which really is as stupid as it gets. Legitimate buyers get spyware and decreased performance and pirates get the better experience
Yea. A singleplayer/coop game doesnt need preorder cosmetics. Thats also ridiculous.
A dev was commenting on pirating. How are they are oblivious to why people would want to pirate when the first thing you get hit with when you open the game is a bullshit EULA?
I don't think it has anti-cheat. But that doesn't mean that the company has no cooperations with anti-cheat providers.
I shall sail the high seas then
I came here to post this, thanks for putting it up. This is AAA-dev levels of hostility to and contempt for the rights of their customers. No one should buy this under these terms.
I reported it to steam. In their store page it doesn't mention 3rd party EULA agreement btw.
I've reported it too, probably it won't have an effect but we might as well try
A lawsuit forced krafton to rehire the fired devs, and extended the the payout period based on sales.
So ironically, for maximum hurt for krafton, you should buy the game to force a larger payout.
Well, it depends on the actual settlement, but surely the worst thing for Krafton is if the game doesn't sell.
I think if they're forced to continue paying the fired devs based on sales, then the advantage of buying the game is to help the devs, not hurt Krafton.
Well kinda
It depends on the number of sales, but for the deal that was made, 0 sales nets them as much as 12 million!
Only after 12 million sales do they come out of the red.
It will never be ethical to buy Subnautica 2 as long as Krafton is still involved.
Unless I can buy the game and have none of my money go to Krafton, I ain't paying for it
Well, think of it like this, they are asking for 250,000,000 that they say they are owed.
That’s not developer salary money, that’s the studio profit. They already got the first 250,000,000 to pay the developers.
So while this sounds like a shitty thing to do, it’s not like people are skipping meals. It’s just C-Suite drama—from what I can tell.
I've got no clue here. How about on gamepass? I already downloaded it and played it for 5 mins. Did i do bad.
Real moral dilemma. Buying could send a message, but it could be taken either way. Mechanically it's probably not been/going to be fucked with by the suits, but I'm not sure the developers ever understood the good parts of the first game anyway.
what is this curator called? I'd like to follow them :3
what is this curator called? I’d like to follow them :3
The screenshot is also a link.
Ooooh :O :D
Buy it on steam and refund it several times. I believe Steam takes a 20% cut of every purchase, yet developers pay 100% of the refund. In Germany Subnautica costs 30€ - 20% are 6€. Buy and refund the game 5 times and the devs will lose 30 bucks on you. You won't support them, but own a legal copy >:D
this is weird, man
Yeah, they're not wrong though. Refunds are what hurts.
