Krafton Issues New Statement on Subnautica 2 Controversy and Unknown Worlds Changes

Krafton, the publisher of Subnautica 2, has released a heavy-handed statement that sheds light on why the recent decision was made to replace the key leadership at the game's developer studio Unknown Worlds. The massively anticipated sequel has been waist-deep in controversy lately after Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire – the co-founders and previous leadership of the Subnautica 2 developer – were abruptly replaced by Krafton, with Steve Papoutsis now serving as the studio's CEO.

In the absence of any reasoning behind this significant shake-up at the time, this sparked widespread outrage among fans of the Subnautica series online while leaving fans seriously concerned about the ongoing development of Subnautica 2. Fears regarding the sequel's ability to meet expectations had already begun to rise early last year after the game was mistakenly described as a live-service title, leading to a quick clarification from the Subnautica 2 developer. Community morale seems to have dropped to a new low recently after Krafton delayed Subnautica 2's early access launch to 2026, with a Bloomberg report suggesting that the publisher forced this delay to avoid paying out a $250 million bonus to the developer by manipulating Unknown Worlds' ability to reach its annual revenue target.

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Subnautica 2 Release Date Delay Is Drawing Controversy

Krafton's decision to delay Subnautica 2 sparks significant backlash, with the company now facing potentially harmful accusations.

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Krafton has since denied this allegation, and has followed up with a new statement that attempts to clear up some of the abundant controversy. Here, the publisher company has openly blamed the original leadership trio at Unknown Worlds for the complications in Subnautica 2's development timeline, claiming that "the former leadership abandoned the responsibilities entrusted to them." Krafton claims that Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire failed to fulfill their roles in adequately contributing to the game's development despite repeated requests by the publisher, blaming this absence of effective leadership for the reason behind Subnautica 2's internal development issues and resultant delays.

Subnautica 2 Was Allegedly Planned To Enter Early Access In 2024

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Interestingly, Krafton also claimed that Subnautica 2's early access phase was planned to begin as far back as early 2024. The publisher also expressed in its latest statement that it feels the current early access build of Subnautica 2 lacks a substantial amount of content, which is allegedly why the game's early access launch has been pushed back to next year. It's worth noting, however, that several members of the development team at Unknown Worlds, along with Charlie Cleveland himself, have expressed confidence that the game was early access-ready as recently as just a few days ago.

Additionally, Krafton claimed to have already allocated 90% of the $250 million bonus payout to the Subnautica developer's former leadership team prior to their replacement, though this does not necessarily mean they have actually been paid that money. The company has reassured fans of its continued confidence and support in Subnautica 2's full development team and has promised to provide the developers with their agreed-upon compensation, although what exactly this entails remains somewhat vague at best.