Krafton is currently embroiled in a dispute with former Subnautica developers. Now the publisher is buying the team behind the action role-playing game Last Epoch.
Although there are now numerous independent game developers, thanks in no small part to digital distribution platforms, larger titles in particular are mostly owned by publishers that have several studios under their umbrella.
The successful action role-playing game Last Epoch and its developer Eleventh Hour Games are now losing their indie status, albeit at an inopportune moment.
Publisher embroiled in scandal
As the game director of Last Epoch announced in a forum post on July 25, Eleventh Hour Games will become part of Krafton, a South Korean publisher best known for PUBG, but also responsible for the production of the life simulation game Inzoi and the survival game Subnautica 2.
However, Krafton has just landed itself in a media scandal with the latter, which has been making headlines for weeks.
The publisher recently fired leading developers from the studio who allegedly neglected their duties. They, in turn, claim that Krafton is simply trying to avoid paying a $250 million bonus that was supposed to go to the Subnautica studio Unknown Worlds and its founders.
The former developers have now sued Krafton, accusing the publisher of sabotaging the development of Subnautica 2.
A final resolution of the dispute and clear evidence for the mutual allegations are still pending.
The dispute between the publisher and the developer is now also causing some fans to worry that Last Epoch could face similar problems. The game director of the action role-playing game has now spoken out to allay these concerns. In a forum post, he writes in response to a fan:
We are aware of the situation with Unknown Worlds. I don’t want to comment on it directly. But after understanding it better, I don’t think it’s something that concerns us in entering this partnership. There is a lot of misinformation and only partially informed parties talking about the situation. However, I appreciate your concern for us.
The developers also emphasize that Krafton does not want to interfere with their work or change things at the studio. They say the purchase by the publisher is a good thing for the future of Eleventh Hour Games. However, it remains to be seen whether fans will be reassured by these words. Many of them clearly do not have a high opinion of the publisher, which also has to do with the Subnautica scandal.