The legal dispute between Krafton and former leaders of Unknown Worlds – the studio behind Subnautica 2 – has taken another turn. In its official response to the lawsuit filed by ex-executives Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire, the South Korean publisher accused the trio of “losing interest” in making the game, which it says severely hurt development.

Krafton, which bought Unknown Worlds for $500 million (with an additional $250 million in potential bonuses tied to performance targets), alleges that Cleveland and McGuire effectively stopped working on Subnautica 2 after the acquisition, focusing instead on personal ventures. According to the company, Cleveland even said in 2024–2025 that he was no longer involved in game development and was working on two films, while McGuire began running unrelated projects. Gill, meanwhile, allegedly focused on maximizing bonus payouts rather than delivering a successful game.

Without their leadership, Krafton claims, production fell behind so badly that the early access launch had to be delayed. In March 2025 – just two months before the planned release – the game’s lead developer admitted that the first two early access versions would contain only about 12% of the planned full-game content, joking that at the current pace, “development would take 30 years.”

On July 2, 2025, Krafton fired all three executives. The former leads responded with a lawsuit, accusing the publisher of sabotaging Subnautica 2 and delaying it intentionally to avoid paying millions in bonuses.

Krafton denies this, arguing that the delay is proof of its commitment to quality and says it will extend the bonus target deadlines and even pay part of the 2026 bonus early to the original Subnautica creators.

The court battle is ongoing – and with both sides throwing heavy accusations, Subnautica 2’s journey to early access looks as turbulent as the oceans it’s set in.