Subnautica 2's legal troubles aren't over yet - developer Unknown Worlds' returning leadership team have now taken issue with publisher Krafton's Early Access reveal.
The long-awaited underwater survival game has been embroiled in a legal dispute for months between rights owner Krafton and the fired leadership team of original developer Unknown Worlds (Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire), though a court order recently filed by the Delaware Court of Chancery declared that Gill must be reinstated as the developer's CEO and given control over the game's Early Access release plans.
Just a day later, during the legal drama, Unknown Worlds' CEO, Steve Papoutsis, announced in an internal memo that the studio and Krafton had "unanimously determined" the game was ready to hit Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview sometime this May.
Now, Game File reports that lawyers representing the trio have sent a letter to the court's Vice Chancellor, Lori Will, complaining about the reveal, which seemingly took them by surprise.
"Krafton self-servingly announced the launch without any regard to its impact on the game, the team, or the community—let alone this Court's Opinion," the letter reportedly says. "Announcing the release of a game is momentous, and it is typically accompanied by significant marketing activity, fanfare, and community coordination. And most importantly, the announcement is carefully designed to maximize excitement for the game. That entire process was supposed to be driven by Mr. Gill. However, in defiance of the Court's Opinion, Krafton has now taken that away, further damaging the game and sowing additional confusion among the Subnautica community."
Krafton's response letter claims there was "nothing improper" about the memo and that old/new CEO Ted Gill will be "able to assess independently his views on the state of Subnautica 2 and the appropriate release schedule; nothing in Papoutsis’s message alters Gill’s authority or discretion."
