Subnautica 2's former leadership files lawsuit against Krafton amid controversy

Today, the ongoing controversy surrounding Subnautica 2’s delay by Krafton, the ousting of its studio’s founders, and a $250 million bonus continues. The game’s publisher, Krafton, which purchased Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds back in 2021, has released a statement, essentially blaming the recently fired leadership team for “abandoning” the project. In response, one of the studio's co-founders and now former leadership has shared on social media that all three former executives are filing a breach of contract lawsuit against Krafton.

Subnautica 2 studio’s former leadership files a breach of contract lawsuit against Krafton

The former executives of Unknown Worlds include the two co-founders, Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, and the former CEO, Ted Gill. Cleveland shared today on social media that the three of them have filed a lawsuit. “We’ve now filed a lawsuit against Krafton: the details should eventually become (at least mostly) public – you all deserve the full story.” Taking on an enormous corporation like Krafton certainly cannot be an easy task, so either this team has a lot of passion or some crucial details that can have an impact on the legitimacy of the lawsuit.

Cleveland continued to fight for the rest of the team in his statement, writing, “As for the earnout, the idea that Max, Ted, and I wanted to keep it all for ourselves is totally untrue. I’m in this industry because I love it, not for riches. Historically we’ve always shared our profits with the team and did the same when we sold the studio. You can be d***ed sure we’ll continue with the earnout/bonus as well.” Cleveland turned off replies to the post, but at the time of writing, it has received over one thousand likes from fans.

Krafton also shared its first statement today since the controversy began a few days ago. In the statement posted to their website, they write, “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.” But goes on to say that, “regrettably, the former leadership abandoned the responsibilities entrusted to them.”

The statement claims that both co-founders were asked to focus on Subnautica 2 multiple times, but never did, even claiming that Max McGuire chose instead “to focus on a personal film project.” Krafton even goes so far as to say that they “feel a profound sense of betrayal by their failure to honor the trust placed in them by our fans.” Which feels very dramatic coming from a corporation, especially the confidence to call Subnautica fans, “our fans.”

While these new statements from Krafton and Unknown Worlds’ former leadership are shining new light on the situation, it’s hard to know for sure which side of the story is the whole truth. If and/or when more details become public, as the potential lawsuit could provide, we may be able to get a clearer understanding of the situation.

Ultimately, the hope is that the hard-working development team on Subnautica 2 gets the payout they were promised. Krafton touches on this subject in their statement, writing, “Krafton has committed to fair and equitable compensation for all remaining Unknown Worlds employees who have continuously and tirelessly contributed to Subnautica 2’s development… we reaffirm our commitment to provide the rewards they were promised.” This all sounds good, but it does not get into specifics, so it’s not quite time to celebrate yet. For now, we’ll have to wait to learn more, which it seems like we will.

Subnautica 2

2026

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• Overview

• lawsuits and litigation
• Bluehole / Krafton
• Unknown Worlds Entertainment
• Subnautica (brand)