Industry Veteran Papoutsis Appointed as New CEO of Unknown Worlds

Okay, so here’s the thing. Krafton, right? The folks behind, well, a lot of stuff. They’ve got this Korean HQ vibe, but what’s up now is they just tossed Steve Papoutsis in as the big cheese over at Unknown Worlds. You know, those Subnautica guys. It’s like when your favorite band gets a new lead singer. Makes you wonder, “Is this gonna rock or what?”

Anyway, the original top dogs—Ted, Charlie, Max—yeah, they’re out. Boom. Like, effective immediately. Looks like Krafton tried playing nice, but something didn’t click. Maybe it was the coffee? We’ll probably never know, unless someone spills the beans at a karaoke night.

About Steve—oh man, this guy’s been around. Worked at Crystal Dynamics and Visceral. You know the type: jumps in, sees the code, probably smells like meetings and deadlines. He hopped on the Krafton train back in 2019 with Striking Distance Studios. Remember The Callisto Protocol? Yeah, that was his jam in 2021.

And then there’s this whole “gamer experience is king” motto from Krafton CEO CH Kim. They’ve got the sequel hype going—Subnautica 2. Like, who hasn’t heard about it yet? If they mess that up, boy, the fans will flip, right? Kim’s all in, saying this next bit is gonna be epic, or we’re all going home. No pressure, Steve.

Steve seems pretty pumped though, throwing words around like “thrilled” and “laser-focused.” Makes you think he’s got a secret coffee blender under his desk. Or maybe it’s just excitement? Who knows. He’s gotta live up to Ted, Charlie, and Max’s legacy after all. Turning Subnautica 2 into something mind-blowing sounds like quite the marathon.

So there you go. New captain at the helm, old crew sailing off into the sunset. Whatever happens next, it’ll be a wild ride. Are we buckle-up ready?