It’s become a recurring theme, but the legal drama between the leaders of Subnautica 2 developer Unknown Worlds and its parent company Krafton isn’t over. Lawyers for the reinstated CEO Ted Gill and founders Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire say Krafton set Subnautica 2’s early access release without consulting them.
According to Game File, the legal team for Gill, Cleveland, and McGuire filed a complaint with the court alleging that Krafton’s announcement potentially damaged “the game and [sowed] additional confusion among the Subnautica community.”
The letter to the court goes on to note that Unknown Worlds studio head Steve Papoutsis had no authority to make the Subnautica 2 early-release announcement because it came after Gill was reinstated to his CEO position following a recent ruling. It further contends that Krafton’s announcement occurred without the “significant marketing activity, fanfare, and community coordination” that would have normally accompanied such news. The filing also suggests that Krafton purposefully leaked the memo and later confirmed it in defiance of the earlier court order.
Krafton’s lawyers responded to the complaint with a letter of their own, which contends that “there was nothing improper about conveying the results of the milestone review or thanking the development team for their dedication and talent.” The letter also stated that Gill can still choose to pick another time frame for Subnautica 2’s early access.
The fight over Subnautica 2’s early access release slipped into public view last summer when Gill, Cleveland, and McGuire were forced out of the studio. A later report from Bloomberg stated Krafton would have been required to pay a $250 million incentive bonus to the founders, which was reliant in part on reaching specific financial thresholds by a certain date. Krafton’s refusal to release the game in early access last year would have meant that the bonus wouldn’t be paid to the leadership team.
The recent court ruling also corroborated earlier reports that Krafton CEO Changhan Kim turned to ChatGPT to get out of paying the bonus and to find a way to remove the founders from their company. That judgment also extended the period for Unknown Worlds’ leaders to earn the $250 million bonus to September 2026.
Subnautica 2 will be available on Xbox Series X|S and PC.