Seth Dickinson

Seth Dickinson is the Senior Narrative Designer for Subnautica 2. He joined Unknown Worlds Entertainment in May 2022. On his blog that same month, he wrote: "I have just started a full time job at Unknown Worlds Entertainment as senior narrative designer on the Subnautica universe. Time for fish."

Background

Dickinson is a graduate of the University of Chicago, where he received the Dell Magazines Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing in 2011 for his short story "The Immaculate Conception of Private Ritter." He had received honorable mention in 2007 and first runner-up in 2008 in the same competition. He was also a lapsed PhD candidate at NYU, where he studied racial bias in police shoot/don't-shoot decisions. He lives in New York City.

Novels

Dickinson's most recognized fiction work is The Masquerade series, beginning with The Traitor Baru Cormorant (2015). The novel follows an accountant who infiltrates the empire that conquered her homeland, using economic warfare and political manipulation rather than military force. The series continued with The Monster Baru Cormorant (2018) and The Tyrant Baru Cormorant (2020), with a fourth book announced but not yet published.

His standalone science fiction novel Exordia was published in January 2024. It uses the Anfal genocide of the Kurds as a historical backdrop and blends action with metaphysical inquiry. Dickinson paid expert readers out of his own pocket for cultural authenticity.

He has published short fiction in Clarkesworld, Strange Horizons, Lightspeed, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies, among other venues. He has also contributed to Magic: The Gathering lore.

Destiny lore contributions

Dickinson did a stint at Bungie and became known for deep, literary lore writing within the Destiny franchise.

• Books of Sorrow (The Taken King, 2015): The origin story of the Hive, told through mythological narrative spanning billions of years. Widely considered among the finest writing in Destiny's lore.

• Marasenna A lorebook about the Awoken and Mara Sov.

• The Unveiling (Shadowkeep, 2019). Lore entries exploring the cosmological underpinnings of Destiny's universe.

• The Witch Queen Collector's Edition (2022), Including Ikora Rey's letter to Sen-Aret.

• Lightfall Collector's Edition (2023). Confirmed by Bungie staff.

Writing philosophy

In a 2024 Clarkesworld interview, Dickinson described the central theme running through his work as "the necessary, monstrous choice", moral complexity under extreme constraint. He has said he listens to "underlying concerns rather than surface-level suggestions" when processing feedback, noting that "often the solution players propose won't work from an integrity, technological or finance perspective, but you can address the problem behind it in a different way."

Role on Subnautica 2

As Senior Narrative Designer, Dickinson is responsible for Subnautica 2's story, world-building, and in-game text on Planet Zezura. The Subnautica franchise relies heavily on environmental storytelling and PDA log entries rather than cutscenes. Dickinson's background writing mythology-scale lore for Destiny and politically complex novels suggests a potentially more structured narrative than the first two games, which were praised for atmosphere but sometimes criticized for thin plotting.