Subnautica 2 Publisher Krafton Responds to Unknown Worlds Co-founders Lawsuit

Krafton recently responded to the lawsuit filed by the former Subnautica 2 leads, defending itself against the accusations. This is the latest development in the major controversies surrounding Subnautica 2, which have escalated over the last few weeks.

Published by Krafton and developed by Unknown Worlds, Subnautica 2 is said to have been in development since 2022, and was originally set to be released in early access in 2025. On July 2, however, Krafton announced that Unknown Worlds CEO Tedd Gill and co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire were being fired "effective immediately.” Around a week after that, the publisher delayed Subnautica 2 to 2026, which sparked accusations that Krafton was trying to avoid paying a $250 million earn-out deal to the devs by delaying and sabotaging the game. The controversy has further escalated with the filing of a lawsuit by the former Unknown Worlds' leadership against Krafton, which accuses the publisher of “deliberately and with malicious intent” sabotaging the development of Subnautica 2 to avoid paying the bonus. On the other hand, Krafton confirmed that a recent Subnautica 2 leak claiming that the game failed to meet the milestones agreed with Krafton was real.

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Now, Krafton has officially addressed the lawsuit filed by the Subnautica 2 studio co-founders, speaking to VGC. According to the publisher, Krafton’s decisions were made to ensure that Subnautica 2 was released in the best possible state, living up to the expectations of the fans. The publisher states that releasing the title prematurely with insufficient content would have disappointed the community, damaging both Subnautica 2 and Unknown Worlds as brands. Krafton also added that “while we are disappointed that Charlie, Max, and Ted have filed a lawsuit seeking a huge payout, we look forward to defending ourselves in court,” and denied that it fired the co-founders to avoid paying the bonus.

Krafton Adresses Lawsuit Filed by Former Subnautica Leads

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While we are disappointed that Charlie, Max, and Ted have filed a lawsuit seeking a huge payout, we look forward to defending ourselves in court.

It remains to be seen how the lawsuit will fare in court, and it may likely take months before gamers can finally see its end. The controversies surrounding Subnautica 2 are fairly complex, and while many fans have already taken sides, many details about the case may still be unknown.

Hopefully, Subnautica 2 will be able to survive these controversies and come out in a polished state in 2026. The original Subnautica is known as one of the best survival games focused on exploration, placing users in the shoes of a lone survivor of a crashed spacecraft and tasking them with exploring an unknown ocean and surviving its many dangers. Fans are eager to know what the sequel could bring to the table, but only time will tell when players will finally get their hands on it.