Every year, it seems, especially in the indie space, where fast turnaround announcements are more feasible, we see a highly anticipated game announced within weeks of its release, causing plans to change for a multitude of devs that finalized. We saw this last year with the release of Silksong, and there were similar reactions to the early access release of Hades II, and now Subnautica 2, the sequel to the hugely popular underwater survival game, is the latest to shift the field a bit. Being Steam’s most-wishlisted game, it is not hard to see why.
Despite there being a fairly public and painful falling out between developer Unknown Worlds and Publisher Krafton, Subnautica 2 has resurfaced with just two weeks’ notice before the game enters early access on May 14. This announcement, given how big we can expect the game to be, has sent ripples through the space, with several games having already adjusted their launch plans accordingly. In the case of Outbound, the RV survival crafting game, this means moving the launch forward just a bit.
On their Steam page, developer Square Glade Games stated about this launch adjustment:
The highly anticipated title Subnautica 2 just revealed their release date — which falls exactly on our planned release date May 14. Even though we are very hyped for their game and big fans of the franchise, we think that it is best to not compete with such an highly anticipated title on that day.
We need to dodge the Leviathan, which means that you can start your road trip on earlier! With Subnautica 2 launching on May 14th on Steam and Xbox, Outbound will now release earlier on May 11th on Steam, Epic Games Store, and Xbox — with the other consoles following on May 14th!
As stated, outbound will now release on May 11, though only where they will directly be in direct conflict with the release of Subnatica 2. PlyStation and Nintendo Switch will still follow on May 14, the same day as previously planned. If you need to see the effects of these quickly announced dates for juggernaut indie franchises, look no further than this. Outbound has been featured across a multitude of showcases and has built up quite an anticipation of its own, but still needed to get out of the way as fast as possible.
In actuality, the two games complement each other quite nicely. Subnautica is a survival crafting game set on a harsh water-covered planet. The player must explore the ocean through a multitude of biomes, fight creatures, and construct bases to survive. It will be available on May 14, on Xbox Series and PC in early access.
Outbound, on the other hand, is a slower-moving game where players explore the countryside in their RV. They need to manage their hunger and can craft several facilities that they can add to their RV, but for the most part, can take life slow above the water, just taking in the sights. Outbound now stands to release on May 11 for Xbox Series and PC, and May 14 for PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.
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