The former leadership at Subnautica 2 developer Unknown Worlds is suing the game’s publisher Krafton.
Just hours after Krafton released an email blaming former executives Charlie Cleveland, Max McGuire, and Ted Gill for the game failing to meet its early access deadlines, the game’s former director has taken to Reddit to announce a lawsuit.
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“As I wrote last week, we know in our souls that the game is ready for Early Access – that’s just how we roll,” Cleveland wrote. “And we’d like nothing more than for you to play it (game devs live for this). But it’s not currently under our control.
“We’ve now filed a lawsuit against Krafton: the details should eventually become (at least mostly) public – you all deserve the full story.”
Cleveland says that suing a “multi-billion dollar company” was not on his bucket list, but that the situation needs to be “made right”. He said that Subnautica has been his “life’s work”, and he would “never willingly abandon it or the amazing team that has poured their hearts into it”.
Cleveland then touched on the $250 million that was scheduled to be paid out should specific goals be reached. In its earlier message, Krafton said that 90% of the $250 million was scheduled to be paid to Cleveland, McGuire, and Gill. However, Cleveland says that any idea the three planned on keeping all of the money from the earn out is “totally untrue”.
“I’m in this industry because I love it, not for riches,” he said. “Historically we’ve always shared our profits with the team and did the same when we sold the studio. You can be damned sure we’ll continue with the earnout/bonus as well. They deserve it for all their incredible work trying to get this great game into your hands.”
Insider Gaming has reached out to Krafton for comment on the lawsuit. Should a response be received, this story will be updated accordingly.
Subnautica 2 was scheduled for early access release this year, but was recently delayed into 2026.
What do you think of the three former Subnautica 2 executives suing Krafton? Let us know down below, and join the discussion in the official Insider Gaming forums.
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Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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