The developers of upcoming survival game Subnautica 2 have warned fans that some dastardly do-badders are sending “fraudulent invites” to a playtest for the game via Steam messages. The playtest isn’t real, say Unknown Worlds, who point out that any such invite will only come in an email from their own domain.
“We have been made aware that fraudulent invites to a Subnautica 2 playtest are being sent on Steam to our community,” said community manager Donya Abramo on the game’s official Discord (as spotted by GamesRadar). “We will never contact you directly on Steam to invite you to any of our User Research Studies or playtesting opportunities.”
The studio did ask for players to take part in a user research study last month, but the link to that was on Discord too. “Any contact regarding studies or playtests will only ever be sent by email from an Unknown Worlds address,” adds Abramo. She asks any poor soul who has already clicked a link to change their Steam password, and points them to Valve’s own help page for those with stolen or hijacked accounts.
As ever, the best advice is to simply never click any link anyone sends you, ever. I practice this daily and look at me, blissfully unaware of all things. Although if said link offered the chance to splash about in even a rockpool of sea water from the anticipated sequel to one of the best survival games, I would at least be sad to dismiss that fantasy.
The last we heard of Subnautica 2 was following a trailer released by the studio last year. The sea-quel will have four player co-op and its early access is set to last at least a couple of years. It’s due out some time this year. In the meantime, be wary of phishing.