Description

We are a small independent development studio making games!

History

The Unknown Worlds story began with the release of Natural Selection on Halloween 2002. NS exploded onto the Half-Life modding scene: It equalled the original Team Fortress for player numbers and was critically acclaimed. Combining strategy an shooter genres, the game offered players a unique team-based multiplayer experience. Recognising the potential of the Natural Selection concept, and wishing to take it further, Charlie formally founded Unknown Worlds with Max McGuire in 2006.

Timeline:

• May 2001 – Started full-time on Natural Selection
• October 2002 – Released Natural Selection
• October 2006 – Max and Charlie found Unknown Worlds, start on Natural Selection 2 (NS2)
• November 2006 – Released Zen of Sudoku
• October 2007 – Released Decoda
• April 2008 – Investment received, first office
• July 2008 – Announced custom engine for NS2 (Spark)
• October 2008 – First Spark engine footage shown
• May 2009 – NS2 site and teaser video released
• November 2009 – NS2 pre-alpha released
• April 2010 – NS2 Engine Test released
• July 2010 – NS2 alpha released to ~15,000 players
• November 2010 – Fade movie released, enters closed beta.
• August 2012 – Exosuit revealed.
• September 2012 – NS2 available for pre-order on Steam.
• October 2012 – NS2 launches on Steam!
• February 2013 – NS2 ‘Gorgeous’ Update
• September 2013 – Prototyping of a new underwater game (“Subnautica“) begins
• October 2013 – NS2 ‘Reinforced’ Update
• February 2014 – NS2 ‘Kodiak’ Update
• February 2014 – Subnautica is teased, development team begins to form
• October 2014 – NS2: Combat (Standalone game developed by former NS2 modding team) released
• October 2014 – NS2 ‘Reaper’ Update
• October 2014 – Subnautica Special Edition (Access to development builds) released
• January 2015 – Subnautica Early Access released
• January 2018 – Subnautica released on Steam
• December 2018 – Subnautica released to Xbox One and PlayStation 4
• January 2019 – Subnautica: Below Zero Early Access released on Steam
• May 2021 – Subnautica: Below Zero released to Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Windows Store, and Nintendo Switch
• May 2021 – Subnautica released to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series
• September 2022 – Moonbreaker Early Access released on Steam

Quotes & Recognition

• “[Subnautica] is, without doubt, my favourite game of the last five years.” – Philippa Warr, PC Gamer, January 2018 
• “NS2 the Best Indie Game of E3: GameSpy” – June 2012
• “NS2 Nominated for best of PC, best of indie E3: Destructoid” – June 2012