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Subnautica 2 publisher and Unknown Worlds parent company Krafton has issued a scathing statement in attempt to clarify the recent leadership shakeup that resulted in the firing of key members of the Subnautica development team.
A quick recap: Last week, Krafton announced the abrupt and apparently forced departures of Unknown Worlds leadership including original Subnautica designer and director Charlie Cleveland, as well as Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill and co-founder Max McGuire.
This week, Krafton announced that Subnautica 2's early access release has been delayed to 2026 to give the developers time to add more content. However, Bloomberg reported that there was a $250 million payout on the line if Unknown Worlds managed to reach certain revenue goals by 2025, putting into question the actual reason behind the delay. For its part, Krafton told GamesRadar+ that money had nothing to do with the Subnautica 2 delay.
Krafton, which acquired Unknown Worlds in 2021, is now addressing rampant speculation about Cleveland, Gill, and McGuire's removal from the studio, and it's not mincing words.
"We collaborated closely with the studio’s leadership, who were central to the creation of the original Subnautica, to foster the optimal environment for a successful Subnautica 2," reads the statement.
"Specifically, in addition to the initial $500 million purchase price, we allocated approximately 90% of the up to $250 million earn-out compensation to the three former executives, with the expectation that they would demonstrate leadership and active involvement in the development of Subnautica 2.
"However, regrettably, the former leadership abandoned the responsibilities entrusted to them. Subnautica 2 was originally planned for an Early Access launch in early 2024, but the timeline has since been significantly delayed."
The South Korean video game publisher and holding company asserts that it "made multiple requests to Charlie and Max to resume their roles as Game Director and Technical Director, respectively, but both declined to do so.
"In particular, following the failure of Moonbreaker," Krafton adds, referring to the Unknown Worlds-developed turn-based strategy game that's considered a commercial failure. "KRAFTON asked Charlie [Cleveland] to devote himself to the development of Subnautica 2. However, instead of participating in the game development, he chose to focus on a personal film project."
Cleveland released a statement shortly after the news broke of the leadership shakeup, saying Krafton's decision was "quite a shock" and claiming Subnautica 2 was "ready for early access release."
"KRAFTON believes that the absence of core leadership has resulted in repeated confusion in direction and significant delays in the overall project schedule," Krafton says.
"The current Early Access version also falls short in terms of content volume. We are deeply disappointed by the former leadership’s conduct, and above all, we feel a profound sense of betrayal by their failure to honor the trust placed in them by our fans."
We've reached out to Unknown Worlds for comment and will update this article if we hear back.
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