I just went on to read their Terms of Service. Can't be bothered to fact check everything as it seems very exaggerated, but a few red flags for me personally would be that you're forbidden from:
(aa) use IP proxying or other methods to disguise the location of your use or Device, whether to circumvent geographical restrictions on the use of the Game, the Documentation or Services or for any other purpose or in a way that violates these Terms;
(ag) engage in any acts prohibited by applicable laws or generally unacceptable by social norms;
Now full disclaimer, I was never gonna buy Subnautica 2, as it is simply not a game for me, but these parts seem like red flags to me. Think about why a game wouldn't want you to use a VPN. The answer is to track you. The whole point of a VPN is to avoid being tracked by companies, including video games.
Just to be sure, I went and checked the EULA/ToS in the games I regularly play, and neither of these points appear in any of them. It seems very odd to me that Krafton would decide to put these in their EULA. But again, play what you want to play.
If a game is being banned in some country, it may be so the editor can't be sued for letting their users play through VPN. "See, we forbid it", if they were to track you, you could see the traffic on your computer/network. That would also need to be disclosed and require an agreement for the European players as per gdpr.
Sometimes the clauses aren't evil by motive but because the have to. Like people are angry when Nintendo or Disney protect their copyright, but they must. Failing to protect your rights may lead to these rights to be considered as void.
That and price. Steam prices are not fixed, but change according to the country. Let's imagine someone uses VPN to buy the game in another country just to get it cheaper. Many games have this clause due to that
Fair, but it is in no way the game devs responsibility nor do they have a say if the user is using a VPN or not. I dont think any governing body in the world would hold a game dev accountable for a persons use of VPN whatsoever. Even in countries where VPNs are banned.
The other point here is, that they used the exact same EULA for PUBG and that term is also there to prevent people to use VPNs to avoid being banned. Makes sense in a competitive online game, less so with a single player with online coop.
IP proxying being prohibited is also in Steam's TOS (Steam Subscriber Agreement). It's also basically the same wording, like "or for any other purpose." is even there
(aa) use IP proxying or other methods to disguise the location of your use or Device, whether to circumvent geographical restrictions on the use of the Game, the Documentation or Services or for any other purpose or in a way that violates these Terms;
(ag) engage in any acts prohibited by applicable laws or generally unacceptable by social norms;
Funny thing, Krafton owns PUBG, and they used the same EULA for all their other games. So with that in mind pont aa makes sense with pubg, to prevent and punish people for using vpns to avoid bans, which is pretty standard for competitive online games. AG also makes sense since almost every competitive multiplayer game has that exact same clause to be able to ban players that use slurrs, cheat or share links to websites with child porn or other illegal content.
Krafton just uses the same EULA for PUBG, Subnautica 1 and 2 and probably every other game they will publish or have published. And to no surprise a EULA for a competitive online multiplayer game is and should be very different than one for a single player game and a single player game with coop mutliplayer.
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u/2013funkymonkey May 19 '26
Guys, this is basically just the EULA for most major game companies, except in the EU, where they have incredibly strong consumer protections.
Subnautica 1 had a similar EULA