Earlier this month, Unknown Worlds’ parent company Krafton reportedly forced out the studio’s co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, as well as former CEO Ted Gill, before pushing Subnautica 2 to 2026. The subsequent war of words between the former leadership team and Krafton led to a lawsuit. Now, Cleveland has shared the full details of the lawsuit which alleges a multi-year push by Krafton to deny Unknown Worlds a promised $250 million payout.
The lawsuit has been posted online, and it accuses Krafton of actively attempting to sabotage the early-access release of Subnautica 2 by refusing to perform pre-launch activities it had previously agreed to do. It also notes that Unknown Worlds had a clause in the 2021 buyout that prevented Krafton from firing its leadership team without cause.
Bloomberg was the first to report that Krafton was supposed to pay $250 million to Unknown Worlds if the company reached certain financial goals in 2025. The lawsuit suggests that Krafton’s decision to fire Unknown Worlds’ leadership team was only made to prevent Subnautica 2 from being released in any form in 2025, which would make it almost impossible for the financial targets to trigger the $250 million payout. The lawsuit goes on to demand that Krafton be forced to pay the previously agreed upon amount and to return creative control of Subnautica 2 to the former leaders of Unknown Worlds.
In response to the lawsuit, a Krafton spokesperson sent GameSpot the following statement:
“Krafton’s decisions were made to ensure Subnautica 2 is the best possible game and lives up to fan expectations. Releasing the game prematurely with insufficient content, falling short of what fans expect in a sequel, would have both disappointed the players–who are at the heart of everything Krafton does–and damaged the reputations of both the Subnautica and Unknown Worlds brands. 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. In the meantime, Krafton remains focused on what matters: delivering the best possible game as quickly as possible to Subnautica’s fans.”
Krafton has previously released a statement accusing Cleveland and the other former leaders of abandoning their responsibilities for Subnautica 2. Earlier this week, a leaked document about Subnautica 2’s development appeared to support Krafton’s assertion that it didn’t reach the thresholds needed for an early-access release, but it may take years of court battles before a winner emerges in this case.
Subnautica 2 is expected to be released on PC and Xbox Series X|S in 2026.
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