Subnautica 2 drama escalates: ousted developers launch legal action as Krafton accuses them of abandoning project

Subnautica 2’s increasingly messy saga has taken another dramatic turn. Developer Unknown Worlds’ ousted leaders have announced legal action against Krafton after the publisher shared a statement accusing the former employees of ‘abandoning’ the underwater survival sequel.

Subnautica 2 became the unexpected focus of industry drama last week when Krafton announced it was ‘replacing’ three key members of Unknown Worlds’ leadership team – including studio founder and original Subnautica director Charlie Cleveland – with Steve Papoutsis, CEO of The Callisto Protocol studio Striking Distance. At the time, Krafton insisted it had “sought to keep the… co-founders and original creators of the Subnautica series involved in the game’s development”, despite their departure.

Fan pushback was swift, especially given Krafton’s talk of “metrics and targets” and the suggestion it might be cracking the whip to get the game complete “as soon as possible”. And the situation only grew murkier after Bloomberg reported Cleveland, as well as Unknown Worlds’ chief executive officer Ted Gill and special projects director Max McGuire, had all been “pushed out” amid Krafton’s sudden decision to shift Subnautica 2’s early access launch from its announced “2025” window into 2026. It was also claimed the move – which Unknown Worlds’ ousted leadership reportedly did not support – would mean the studio was unlikely to meet the revenue targets that would unlock a promised $250m bonus for the development team.

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Responding to Bloomberg’s report, Krafton insisted the delay was “not influenced by any contractual or financial considerations” but was instead merely to improve the game following feedback. This directly contradicted an earlier statement made by Cleveland to fans following his departure, claiming Subnautica 2 was “ready for early access”. But Krafton didn’t stop there; first it posted a new gameplay trailer, presumably in a bid to try and quell the growing community discontent, then, overnight, it issued another statement, this one far less diplomatic than the rest, directly accusing Cleveland and co. of “abandoning [their] responsibilities”.